{"id":15560,"date":"2023-06-05T23:19:25","date_gmt":"2023-06-05T23:19:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/california\/?p=15560"},"modified":"2025-04-30T17:07:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T17:07:00","slug":"partner-spotlight-bgckc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/california\/partner-spotlight-bgckc\/","title":{"rendered":"Share Summer Partner Spotlight: How the Boys and Girls Clubs of Kern County Feed and Enrich All Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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A Little Extra Help, Love and Support: How the Boys & Girls Clubs of Kern County Feed and Enrich All Kids<\/b><\/h2>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Summer should be a carefree time for children in California. Unfortunately, it\u2019s often the hungriest time of year for kids and teens who rely on school nutrition programs that offer breakfast, lunch and dinner during the school year.<\/span><\/p>

While summer meal programs are available and free to any child or teenager who needs a healthy meal when school is out, many families don\u2019t know about them. This summer presented even more challenges due to high food and transportation costs that made it harder for families to put food on the table.<\/span><\/p>

Here in California, we support schools, local organizations and individuals like the Boys & Girls Clubs of Kern County (BGCKC) who are working hard in the sweltering summer of California\u2019s rural Central Valley to nurture strong futures for the children in their community.<\/span><\/p>

Clinton Mungary, Program Manager who works across the Southern San Joaquin Valley, spoke with Chelsea Dow, BGCKC\u2019s Nutrition Coordinator, about the challenges facing many kids and families. Dow also discussed how her team of Hunger Heroes have stepped up to address the growing need.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Can you share more about your organization and some history of your summer nutrition program?<\/b><\/span><\/p>

BGCKC sites provide healthy meals and snacks to children during out-of-school times, while also supporting educational and enrichment programs that keep children learning, engaged and safe when school is not in session. With 68 after school sites across the third largest county in California, BGCKC provides 4,500 meals a day to 2,700 children.<\/span><\/p>

What are some of the challenges or barriers that kids and their families are facing?<\/b><\/span><\/p>

Inflation is a huge factor. We\u2019ve noticed that sometimes our families are not able to afford necessary things like food, rent, water and transportation. The cost of living and the cost of everything else has affected our families tremendously. This is why we try to station ourselves within communities and closer to families like parks, because it’s easier for families to access the meals. Another barrier is transportation. Sometimes parents are not around to take their children to get the meals, don’t have a mode of transportation or are unable to make it during the time frames of the meal service. Being able to provide children with a safe site where they can receive a warm, filling meal is most important.<\/span><\/p>

What is important for families to know about the BGCKC\u2019s nutrition program?<\/b><\/span><\/p>

Our community is diverse with many different families and needs. We want families to know that we will continue to be there for them, because regardless of the family or neighborhood you come from, we are here to provide that extra help, love and support. <\/span>We couldn\u2019t have been able to grow as much as we have without the federal nutrition waivers that were in place during the pandemic, in order for us to continue to be there for families. Making these waivers permanent would help families tremendously. <\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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What have you learned about yourself as a leader in the community?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>

I\u2019ve been with BGCKC for four years. Prior to that I went to culinary school and spent 13 years working in kitchens. This job is a good fit, because I wanted to continue to live in the world of food, plus help anybody that needed my help. Here in Bakersfield and Kern County, it\u2019s a community where everybody knows everybody, and everybody looks out for everyone. I learned that I have a huge heart. It touches me to be doing what I am doing and that what I\u2019m doing is the right thing even though sometimes it can be difficult to see some of the situations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

What has made a difference in your efforts to feed kids?<\/b><\/span><\/p>

No Kid Hungry has been a great partner that has allowed us to grow, and we haven\u2019t stopped. We\u2019ve been able to reach so many more children locally, as well as expand outwards. This includes going to small rural mountain communities that can be 35 to 75 miles away from the clubhouse where meals are prepared.\u00a0 For example, we used the No Kid Hungry grant to purchase vehicles to transport and get meals to kids. This summer we went all the way out to Kernville and other small rural communities like Gorman and Frazier Park. Each of these vehicles can transport 1,800 meals. A huge thank you to No Kid Hungry and the people who have made it possible for us to reach as many children as we have.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Any final thoughts you want to share?<\/b><\/span><\/p>

It is unfortunate to say, but with everything going on, the need for food is not going to stop. We have seen our numbers and the need continues to grow. We care about our neighbors and will continue to do it. We\u2019re not going to stop.<\/span><\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Take Action by Sharing Summer!<\/b><\/h2>

For kids who rely on school for healthy meals, summer can be a time of hunger. But communities across the country are taking care of kids through summer meals programs, and we’re making sure they get the resources they need.<\/span><\/p>

We invite you to join us in applauding and supporting hunger heroes like Chelsea Dow and organizations like the Boys & Girls Clubs of Kern County by Sharing Summer!<\/span><\/p>

You can help families find local meals sites, with our <\/span>Meals Finder Map<\/span><\/a> and our free summer meals texting service. Simply text \u201cFOOD\u201d or \u201cCOMIDA\u201d to 304-304 to find free meals in your neighborhood.<\/span><\/p>

Use this <\/span>Share Summer Meals Outreach Toolkit<\/span><\/a> to help community members and partner organizations get the word out to families about meals available for children and teens this summer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Last Reviewed: June 5, 2023<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Little Extra Help, Love and Support: How the Boys & Girls Clubs of Kern County Feed and Enrich All Kids Summer should be a carefree time for children in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,84,51],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15560","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog","7":"category-storytelling","8":"category-summer-meals"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nShare Summer Partner Spotlight: How the Boys and Girls Clubs of Kern County Feed and Enrich All Kids - California<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/state.nokidhungry.org\/california\/partner-spotlight-bgckc\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Share Summer Partner Spotlight: How the Boys and Girls Clubs of Kern County Feed and Enrich All Kids - 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