How River City Food Bank Went From Low-Barrier to No Barriers for Displaced Communities
At No Kid Hungry, we believe all children deserve a bright future. That’s why we work to ensure every child gets the food they need to grow up healthy, happy and strong.
As we celebrate National Immigrant Heritage Month and Refugee Awareness Month, we want to highlight the contributions and accomplishments of immigrants and refugees, both past and present, who in addition to local organizations, individuals and schools, are working hard to nurture strong futures for the children in our communities.
We hope these stories inspire people to join us as we rally and fight to end child hunger and its disproportionate impact on communities of color and displaced communities.
In Sacramento County, 1 in 5 children could experience hunger. And for more than 50 years, River City Food Bank (RCFB) has served the Sacramento community with emergency food and assistance to individuals and families in need. According to Erika Fatula, Director of Fund Development at River City Food Bank, RCFB served more than 2.2 million pounds of food to 206,523 people facing hunger in 2021.
RCFB serves people at two emergency food distribution sites in Sacramento’s Midtown and Arden-Arcade area. Of the more than 17,000 people per month RCFB served in 2021, particularly in the Arden-Arcade community, half of the guests were children. Unfortunately, the number of individuals and children RCFB serves continues to rise in 2022 with inflated gas and grocery expenses.
“Because of the pandemic, thousands of people were laid off from hospitality and restaurant service jobs,” said Fatula. “We went from serving 12,000 community members per month to serving 20,000 per month. And then on top of that, 2021 saw wildfires displace many people who evacuated to Sacramento for safety; and at the same time, over 10,000 families were arriving and resettling in the community following the intensified violence in Afghanistan.”
To meet the growing needs of food insecure families in Arden-Arcade, RCFB received a grant from No Kid Hungry to grow its capacity, expand outreach to underserved populations, and increase access to healthy, culturally meaningful food.
“All of a sudden, we were seeing people from everywhere, and so we knew we needed to improve the way we were serving to better support everyone,” said Fatula. “We went from a low-barrier intake to no barrier intake.”
RCFB’s model was simple. They removed as many barriers as possible, to ensure individuals, children and families had easy access to get the food they need, as often as they need it, regardless of zip code, status, or income. But RCFB also offered dignity to the food they provided and how they distributed it.
“With a choice food model at both locations, people can come shop and select the items that mean the most to them,” said Fatula. “We know there are so many barriers to getting food security, whether it’s lack of employment or housing needs, or there’s language barriers. We just want to make sure that the one thing families don’t have to worry about is where they’re going to get food each week.”
RCFB collaborated with San Juan Unified School District to set up a temporary mobile food distribution site at one of their high schools to meet families where they were at. The school distribution sites also became resource fairs where refugees could pick up meals and connect families to other resources on housing, employment and CalFresh.
Refugee guest testimonials shared by RCFB.
Sakina moved from Pakistan to the U.S. five years ago and settled in Sacramento two years ago. She takes care of her sister and father who both live with her and are very ill. Since they are unable to work, all of the expenses fall on Sakina.
During the pandemic, Sakina found River City Food Bank and comes each week to feed her family. They have access to healthy, fresh vegetables that are critical to the recovery of her father and sister, as well as a huge part of their culture and traditions.
When reflecting on her experience at RCFB, Sakina shared, “It’s very good, because some of the families are working and need food. We are getting food here and we are surviving.” Sakina enjoys cooking for her family and shares special dishes with her friends and neighbors.
For 20 years, Hafiz worked as a security officer alongside the United States Army. Once tensions with the Taliban increased, Hafiz left Afghanistan with his wife and four children to keep his family safe. They arrived in Virginia at a refugee camp before they were transferred to Sacramento.
This is where they started their new life.
Hafiz began working right away, but their emergency benefits were cut with the additional income. With a large family of six, they still needed assistance accessing healthy food in order to pay their bills on time. Hafiz and his wife learned about River City Food Bank through their school and immediately felt a sense of relief.
“This is a big support for my family,” said Hafiz. “As soon as the children come home from school, they are waiting for food.”
Let this National Immigrant Heritage and Refugee Awareness Month be a celebration of the strength and resiliency of Hunger Heroes at River City Food Bank, who are working tirelessly to ensure that all kids and their families have the food to power their dreams.
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About No Kid Hungry
No child should go hungry in America. But millions don’t know where their next meal is coming from. No Kid Hungry is ending childhood hunger by helping launch and improve programs that give all kids the healthy food they need to thrive. This is a problem we know how to solve. No Kid Hungry is a campaign by Share Our Strength, an organization working to end hunger and poverty.
Last Reviewed: June 29, 2022