Funding will expand students’ year-round access to nutritious, fresh meals

Sacramento, CA - The Central Kitchen, SCUSD’s Nutrition Services department, was awarded three grants from non-profit partner, No Kid Hungry. Totaling $258,600, these grants will support furthering The Central Kitchen’s mission of serving every student, regardless of income, freshly prepared meals, including local and seasonal produce. 

“We are so grateful for our partnership with No Kid Hungry, an organization seeking to end child hunger nationwide. Unfortunately, 1 in 8 kids live with hunger in America. Our school meal program is evolving as we look for new and innovative ways to reach students in need. This would not be possible without the financial support from our non-profit partner, No Kid Hungry.” says Diana Flores, Executive Director of the Central Kitchen.

A grant in the amount of $6,600 will fund the Youth Ambassador program which will pay a local college student interested in a career in health and nutrition, to work during our summer meals programming. Learn more about our summer meals here which help to close the meal gap that many students face when school is not in session. This intern position will help with CalFresh enrollment outreach at our Mobile Food Pantry, support the Mobile Food Truck, and learn work experience in our school meal system. 

Another grant of $45,000 will provide additional funding needed for operations of our Mobile Food Pantry. A new partnership with Paratransit, Inc. will be funded to assist with meal delivery to food insecure students with transportation barriers who cannot easily reach our Mobile Food Pantry. 

The third grant of $207,000 will enable the purchase of five electric vehicles that will be customized to allow quick service school meals for our five comprehensive high schools, expanding access on larger campuses to ensure students are well fed when they return to class after lunch to learn. 

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