Noelle Kim has given away more than 1,500 bottles of juice.
The 17-year-old Sage Ridge School student is passionate about helping others with a tradition that comes from her family since the 1970s.
“Juicing has been a daily tradition in my family,” she said. “My grandparents … would make juice for me and tell me to drink it like it was vitamins.
“When I started visiting nursing homes as part of a dental health service project I was a part of I noticed the elderly were often missing their teeth,” she added. “Which made me wonder how they managed to eat hard fruits and vegetables. When I was told they hardly ate fresh fruits and vegetables and that it was very difficult to keep them hydrated.”
That’s how the idea of juicing started.
Kim’s Little Juice Project involves getting a load of fresh fruits and vegetables – donated by Trader Joe’s – that she then presses into nutritious juices.
She gives them away to seniors, not just here in Reno but also last summer in Korea, where she shared her juice with over 300 seniors.
Kim said she started a club at Sage Ridge hoping the project will grow.
“I am not completely sure how many bottles have been donated, but including those donated in Korea, I would say over 1,500 bottles of juices have been donated at this point,” she said.
