Change the world.
“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”
Our Core Initiative
Every Kid fed
Food insecurity in elementary schools is an important global health problem facing children. Around the world, when a child goes to school hungry, they may find it difficult to focus and get through the day. For many children, once they finish their classes, they return home not knowing when they’ll get their next meal. Food insecure children run the risk of poor general health, decreased academic performance, poor social outcomes, anxiety and depression.
In 2016, Every Kid Fed was founded by Dr. Shanay Thompson. A busy student at the time, Shanay worked to find ways to end child hunger in schools, eliminate the free school lunch stigma, while also ensuring children have equal access to the nutrients they need to thrive. She developed and funded on-site food pantries in high poverty schools, while reaching out to congress, council-members, and school districts to create a universal school meals program, along with other food justice advocates.
The disruptions caused by Covid-19 shed light on child food insecurity, and prompted many school districts to provide universal school meals. California is now the first state to implement free meals to all public school students in the 2022-2023 school year and beyond.
While this is a wonderful step in the right direction, work still needs to be done to make sure every child has adequate food at home, in addition to every public school in the United States adopting a universal school meals program.
Food Pantry Cities We Serve:
Oakland, CA
Sacramento, CA
Los Angeles, CA
2025- Expanding snack bag distributions to out of state elementary schools in food deserts.