Minimal lift, maximum impact

Food is a basic need.

As the Director of Student Support Services at Richfield Public Schools, I see how students’ ability to engage at school is directly impacted when this need is not met. The first questions we ask our families are around basic needs. My work in supporting the whole student involves connecting them to resources that help fill the gaps.

Filling food gaps is critical, yet doing it in a way that is thoughtful and intentional is challenging. Every Meal’s Weekend Meal Program is unique because it fills the food gap in a way that combines minimal lift for the schools with maximum impact for the child. And it is why I am proud to serve on Every Meal’s board.

MINIMAL LIFT FOR SCHOOLS

By minimal lift I mean that the time needed from school staff in Every Meal’s Weekend Meal Program is minimal. In the school, we help identify and register the students in need. Every Meal takes care of the rest, delivering nutritious, delicious, and relevant food right to the school, and recruiting and training the dependable, caring volunteers who come each week to place the food bags into students’ backpacks.

MAXIMUM IMPACT FOR KIDS

The maximum impact comes because the program is accessible across race, class, and need. Whether signed up for a few months or the full school year, families receive help in a way that maintains dignity and recognizes their cultural dietary preferences. Any student can receive a weekend food bag. Because all are welcome, help is normalized and destigmatized.

TWICE THE IMPACT IN MARCH

As a board member, I see first-hand how our gifts are turned into good food sent home with kids, filling the gap from one week to the next. This year, close to 12,000 students are bringing home an Every Meal food bag each weekend. With so many more kids telling us that they don’t have enough to eat on the weekend, your donation this school year is especially important.

Plus, this month, your impact will be doubled. A long-time friend of Every Meal is matching every gift in March – up to $100,000. All gifts will go twice as far!

Please join me in supporting students in Minnesota by donating today so that rumbling bellies are full and our kids can thrive in school and life. It’s as basic as that. Thank you for choosing to fight child hunger with us.

– Christina Haddad Gonzalez, Every Meal Board Member