About Us
Our mission is to feed food-insecure children on the weekend. The children we serve are identified by teachers and counselors as regularly coming to school hungry. For many of the children we support, lunch on Friday is the last meal they have until school breakfast on Monday morning.
It's difficult for a student to concentrate and learn when their stomach is grumbling and all they can think about is when they will eat again. Studies have shown the impact of childhood hunger can last a lifetime. Hunger deprives children of their childhood and their future. The food we provide is vital for emotional, social, and educational growth.
We began in Jacksonville in August 2015 with five children in one elementary school and we currently support over 300 students in eleven schools by providing breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks every Saturday and Sunday during the school year. Every bag packed contains enough food for 6 meals over the weekend and included shelf stable milks and 2 snacks. Thanks to our partnership with Hunger Fight we have added 2 additional family meals.
We are a community-based, grass-roots organization that runs completely on volunteers and community support which are critical to the success of our program. Our weekly packing occurs on Thursdays while school is in session, packing with15-25 volunteers ranging in age from 5 years old to very wise years old. Bags are packed, delivery cars are loaded for the next morning and we deliver to the schools on Friday so students can pick up the bags before they go home for the weekend.
All the food we provide to students is purchased locally with donations from the community. Restocking our pantry occurs about every 4-5 weeks and the cost is between $4,500-$5,000 per month. Food pick up and restocking involves 3-4 truck drivers, 5 truck unloaders and 10 volunteers to restock the rolling racks.
The generous help of our dedicated volunteers allows every dollar donated to go directly to feeding hungry children!
