Full bellies fuel learning, education experts often say.
On Thursday, Sept. 25, Second Harvest Food Bank celebrated a decade of helping to fill students’ stomachs around Orange County, where today, one child in eight is food insecure.
The food bank’s Permanent School Pantries program has provided nearly 2 million pounds of food to Orange County families this year, one of several programs it has to address food insecurity and make sure local residents in need do not go hungry.
“We know that children struggle to learn. We also know when hungry, that is when distracting issues happen, when kids stop paying attention and get into trouble,” said Wayne Stickney, chief development officer for Second Harvest. “We want children to be fed so they can grow and thrive.”
More than 86,000 children — and their families — are served by the program, which has seven locations that are open several days a week, offering fresh produce, milk, meat and pantry items.
Just last year, Second Harvest celebrated the 10-year anniversary of its mobile school pantries — there are 76 — which also help deliver food to families at campuses around the county. And it provides meals and snacks to thousands of students weekly through its Kids Cafe Program.
The permanent school pantries, which serve about 16,000 people a month each, including more than 5,000 children, are set up like small grocery stores.
“The children and their families get to have a shopping experience,” Stickney said. “It really accentuates our focus on providing a dignified experience. It is pretty powerful to be able to see people go in and select the items they want, that is good for their families, versus I got a bag of groceries, or a box of groceries; I don’t know what’s in there.”
On Thursday, families visited the Mercado El Sol at the El Sol Academy in Santa Ana. It is open five days a week to students and their families, as well as the surrounding community.
Waiting for them were mounds of zucchini, yellow squash and eggplant picked from the food bank’s farm. The food bank also gets donations from restaurants, manufacturers and distributors, contributions from government programs and raises money to purchase additional food.
In the last fiscal year, Second Harvest distributed more than 42 million pounds of food across Orange County, serving about 458,000 people each month.
“At Mercado El Sol, they provide access to fresh, nutritious food. They also bring in other wrap-around services to provide support for the families. They also do some social gatherings,” Stickney said, describing a “community hub” the permanent school pantry has created for the school and neighborhood.
“It is a place where people who are experiencing food insecurity, it is an opportunity for them to be part of something with other people in solidarity,” Stickney said.
The other permanent school pantries are at Gilbert High, 1800 W. Ball Road; Skyview Elementary, 1240 N. Harbor Blvd.; Anaheim Independencia, 10841 Garza Ave.; and Anaheim High, 811 W. Lincoln Ave., all in Anaheim. Others are located at Access San Juan, 31894 Plaza Ave., in San Juan Capistrano and Pacific Drive Elementary, 1501 Valencia Ave., in Fullerton.
Find out more information at feedoc.org.