No school means no free or reduced-priced meals for children from low-income families. This makes summer an additional burden on family resources already stretched too thin. Fortunately, the Share Your Lunch campaign provided food and funds to all Food Bank programs serving children and their families including our Family Harvest sites like Spartan Keyes in downtown San Jose.
"It definitely helps us out," says Rosa, a client and volunteer at the site. "I’m a single mom, so there's been times where I’ve been like 'do I pay this bill or do I buy food?' So everything that we get here helps out a lot." Rosa and her daughter Andrea (who is 2 years old) receive more than 100 pounds of nutritious groceries each month. Today the mix included huge watermelons, eggs, cabbages, cereal, and more. "Andrea likes the juice and the cereal we get, but all of the food we'll use on a daily basis."
Coming to Family Harvest every month has helped Rosa get to know her neighbors. "You see so many faces and build relationships each time you come." Being a volunteer also helps her feel connected to her community. "They tell me, 'Oh, thank you so much, Rosita!' And I'm just signing them in! You can tell for everyone here, this program is so much help."
Our Family Harvest program provides food to low-income families with dependent children. We currently serve more than 5,000 families through this program each month. This summer, we increased the amount of lunch foods, healthy snacks, juice boxes and kid-friendly produce such as fruit and carrots. The average monthly household income for a Family Harvest recipient is $1,450.
On behalf of our families, thank you for supporting Share Your Lunch!
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