Terrence J has his eye on fixing two problems: childhood hunger and inaccessibility to healthy food options. Through a partnership with Maytag and the Boys and Girls Club of American, the Think Like A Man actor is on his way towards doing so.
Long before the Oscar win or his reign as a personality on BET’s 106 and Park, Terrence J was known as Terrence Jenkins on the hardwood floors of his local Boys and Girls Club. As a kid, he witnessed the impact the organization made on youth like himself. Now as an adult, he has carried on his involvement with the Boys and Girls Club by giving back through different initiatives and routinely visiting locations throughout the U.S.
With a short break due to the pandemic, Jenkins returned to the halls of Boys and Girls Clubs to help participants welcome Maytag’s Feel Good Fridges. At clubs around the nation, appliance leader Maytag stocked refrigerators full of healthy eating options. Members and their families can snack on fruits, vegetables, and other nutritional eats.
Terrence J found inspiration from his own food journey to help others gain footing in their own. Jenkins spoke to The Knockturnal about his battle with vitiligo. In seeking advice from doctors, re-evaluating his eating habits became necessary to him. It also led him to help his family create healthier diets themselves. Jenkins’ championing of nutritional value and food security ignited from here, leading to aid HBCUs and now Boys and Girls Clubs.
With Maytag’s fridges, Terrence J is tackling the lack of food security in underserved communities. 2020 research by the Brookings Institution found that in 27.5 percent of households with children, the children were not getting enough to eat. So Maytag and Jenkins launched the Feel Good Fridge program. The first batch of fridges went to Boys and Girls Clubs in Los Angeles, New York, Detroit, and Grand Rapids. They plan to expand to other locations and place 20 more fridges by the beginning of 2022.
