by Sariga Santhosh, Development Assistant
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| Our summit attendees at St. Leo's Food Connection |
On February 6th, we hosted our first-ever Winter Food Summit to discuss
the issue of community food sourcing in Tacoma. As part of the day’s events, we
offered the attendees the opportunity to tour a few local member agencies whose
work directly tied into the day’s topics. Our first stop was at St. Leo’s Food
Connection to tour their backpack program, which rightfully boasts the title of
biggest backpack program in the area during the school year. Currently, the
program has enrolled 20% of students eligible for free lunches from 29 schools.
Providing each student 2 days’ worth of food, this program reaches an average
of 30 students per school, with over 100 students registered in some schools.
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| Quentin Cole shows us what goes into each backpack |
This high-functioning program is mainly volunteer-run and
headed by Quentin Cole, the Children’s Feeding Program Coordinator. Recognizing
a direct correlation between access to regular meals and students’ academic performance, the backpack program currently serves over 750 students. The program
runs on the referrals from school officials like counselors, who identify students
at risk of hunger during the weekends. Each
week, Quentin relies on his team of 12-15 regular volunteers to pack bags that consist
of dry food, one breakfast item (oatmeal, granola, or something similar), fresh
produce gleaned from farmers markets, hearty main meal items (tuna, or soup),
potatoes, 2 snack items, and shelf stable milk or juice. In total, the backpacks
amount to six kid-friendly meals and snacks for each student to eat over the
weekend.
Using the assembly line process, volunteers package enough
food to meet 1500 calories per day for each student. 15 weekly volunteer drivers
transport the bags to schools, where they are then distributed to students in
the program. While primarily operating during the school year, St. Leo’s Food
Connection’s Backpack program recently added ‘break boxes’ to feed hungry
students during school holidays. Parents pick up boxes that feed their families
until school reopens. This way, no child
has to go hungry, even when school is not in session.
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| Boxes of donated food! |
Quentin credits the high degree of community engagement for
making the program such a success. From the volunteers who give their time
every week to the program to the generous folks who donate food and other
supplies, the community has rose to the challenge to take care of its hungry
children. Having access to quality food is crucial to the education and development
of school-aged children, and programs like St. Leo’s Food Connection meet that critical
need in their communities when resources are far and in between. We are
grateful for their hard work, and are proud they are part of our coalition that
strives to deliver better pathways to driving down hunger all over the state,
one community at a time.
The land, donated
by one of their long term volunteers, is the groundwork for some very exciting
long term objectives that they have in Moses Lake. It will host a new location
for the food bank, distribution center and eventually a garden / small farm complete
with hydroponics. 
