In the face of ever-evolving challenges, there are stories of hope – among them, the heroic efforts by educators, school leaders, child nutrition professionals, community organizations, government partners and many more.
Champions have banded together across the Golden State and worked tirelessly to ensure kids have the food they need to dream of a brighter and more caring future. There are thousands of examples we could point to, and though we can’t list them all here, our gratitude goes out to each and every hunger hero who worked for kids this year.
This summer, No Kid Hungry collaborated with school districts and community organizations across the U.S. to help close the hunger gap. With your support, we convened over 400 state and federal officials, community leaders and parents to share ideas and work together on ways to feed kids this summer. We also provided grants and technical support to schools and community organizations in California, which helped them purchase critical equipment, as well as hire and retain staff to run pick-up and meal delivery programs in rural areas.
Read the Summer Spotlight Series, this features six school districts and food banks who have joined the No Kid Hungry movement and our cause to end summer hunger.
Val Verde Unified School District, Riverside County
Senior Program Manager Andrea Cuellar reflected on the summer meals program with Val Verde Unified’s Food Services Director Christopher Hutchinson, Food Services Manager Jennifer Mattocks, and Wellness and Marketing Coordinator Ginko Lueder. Over six weeks and across 18 community sites, they served more than 218,000 summer meals, a 63% increase from last summer when they were just serving 81,500 meals. Read about their story here.
Ocean View School District, Ventura County
Senior Program Manager, Jonelle Williams-Pagan, sat down with OVSD’s Nutrition Services Director Allison England, Nutrition Services Manager Patience Boulais, and Nutrition Services Secretary Elizabeth Body to reflect on how their summer went. Within two weeks of operating the new rural summer meals program, the nutrition services team served 12,000 meals. Because they were limited by their fleet, the team would pack 600 boxes of food with five days’ worth of breakfast and lunch and deliver to six rural pick-up locations. Read about their story here.
Redwood Empire Food Bank, Sonoma County
Senior Program Manager Mariela Donis, spoke with Maria Fuentes, manager of Every Child, Every Day, to reflect on how the first year of operating a unique model. This summer, they worked with and vended summer meals from Santa Rosa City School District, the official sponsor of the rural feeding program. This collaborative community effort allowed REFB to not only provide five days’ worth of breakfast and lunches to kids, but they were also able to supplement the summer meals with food from their own food bank to feed the entire family. Read about their story here.
Morongo Unified School District, San Bernardino County
Associate Director Daisy Munguia spoke with MUSD’s Nutritional Services Director Janet Barth. MUSD covers over 1,400 square miles and serves a diverse student population across several communities, including Joshua Tree, Twentynine Palms, and Morongo Valley. This school district is geographically larger than the area of Washington D.C., which is under 100 square miles. “For families to travel the distance into town to go to school, shop for supplies, or handle any other necessities, in 105 to 115 degree weather during the summer — is a big deal,” shared Barth. Read about their story here.
Feeding San Diego, San Diego County
Daisy Munguia, associate director, spoke with Sam Duke, Feeding San Diego’s director of programs. While many know San Diego for its beautiful coastline, San Diego County has a large rural area that spans eastward toward Imperial County and into the arid Sonoran Desert. Their partnership with San Diego County Libraries, schools, community sites and crew of volunteers distributed 51,000 summer meals across six rural sites. Read about their story here.
Lodi Unified School District, San Joaquin County
We spoke with Sharon Muñoz, nutrition specialist and Dr. Betty Crocker, formerly the director of nutrition services at Redlands Unified School District and No Kid Hungry’s 2018 Summer Meals Hero took on this challenge to ensure the community of scholars and families at Lodi Unified School District have access to 10 DAYS’ worth of breakfast and lunches. They served more than 257,000 meals! Read more about Lodi Unified School District’s story here.
Ways You Can Help
You can ensure kids have the nutrition they need to thrive in and out of the classroom and reach their full potential in a variety of ways:
- Donate. $1 can help provide 10 meals* for kids. Your support will help us fund meal programs all over the country and help us advocate for policies that will help kids get the meals they need.” *Donations help support programs that feed kids; No Kid Hungry does not provide individual meals. Learn more at NoKidHungry.org/OneDollar
- Speak up for kids. Reach out to your elected officials and ask them to do more to end childhood hunger. Tell your lawmaker to advocate for policies that will help kids get the meals they need.
By Tommy Le
Last updated: December 2, 2024