He Was Just Hungry

He Was Just Hungry.

There is a story I have been telling a lot lately, and I’d like to tell it here too.  A principal at a 27J elementary school shared this anecdote with me when Food for Hope first started serving their community in 2018.  It has resonated with me ever since. She told me about a boy in their school the year before that was notorious for being a problem in the classroom.  He often had disruptive outbursts, didn’t complete requested work, and t generally misbehaved.  No matter what the staff tried to do to redirect and help this student, the negative trend in his demeanor remained for the whole year.  Then, towards the end of the school year, a church brought in some food that they had collected to give to families in need. This boy was one of the students brought in to pick out food for his family.  When given a bag and told he could pick whatever he wanted, the child got tears in his eyes and said, “I’m so hungry.” So hungry.  The principal told me that is the moment that it all came together for them.  He had just been hungry the whole time.  Not defiant, not lazy, but hungry.

This story supports the research that has been done on how regularly experiencing hunger can affect children as they grow and learn.  A report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) found that kids who are food insecure are also more likely to have behavioral issues. This can manifest in the classroom as difficulty concentrating, increased irritability, or even aggressive behavior. It’s no wonder teachers often notice that hungry kids struggle to keep up. The effects of hunger aren't only academic. Children who are food insecure are more likely to experience health problems. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), these kids are at a higher risk for obesity, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. It’s a vicious cycle: hunger leads to health issues, which in turn can affect a child’s ability to learn and thrive in school.

The free breakfast and lunch offered at school is an important piece of a nutritional foundation for children, but how can we make sure kids are getting adequate food at home too?  Food for Hope was created to specifically address this issue.  I always think about this little boy when I need to be reminded why we do what we do.  And why it's important to keep going even when moving forward with our mission is tough. He and thousands of others like him are why we are currently promoting a Growth Initiative Campaign to shore up our resources and ensure we can continue providing healthy, fresh, and culturally sensitive foods through our programs.  As we enter the holiday season, would you remember this boy?  Would you remember Food for Hope and possibly consider our organization for a year-end gift? The future of our community will be brighter with your investment in hope.

What Does It Mean to Take Action?

What Does It Mean To Take Action?

September is Hunger Action Month.  This is an annual initiative from Feeding America that strives to bring awareness to the prevalence of food insecurity and encourages citizens to take action to help their neighbors who experience this hardship.  Here at Food for Hope, we regularly interact with local families who are enduring injustice, difficulty, and hunger.  The need is so great.  We appreciate the intention of Hunger Action Month, because we acknowledge that this is an issue that is too big to be addressed alone.

Last week, a woman stopped by Food for Hope’s new distribution hub in search of food resources. Our conversation in the parking lot revealed that her story could be anyone’s story. She has been working two jobs, but taking care of an ill family member was using so many resources that she could not find a place to live that she could afford.  She has partial custody of her daughter, and was trying to find food so that she would have something to feed her during their visit the coming weekend.  This woman is working around the clock to try to make ends meet, but she still needs help.  Since she does not have a child in one of the schools we serve, I was able to connect her to another local food bank where she could get the items she needed. However, there are many more people experiencing this reality in the Denver area.  Parents are especially struggling because they are trying to make sure their children are getting the nutrition they need despite the high cost of living and difficult circumstances.  These families are great examples of why your action makes a difference.

So what is there to do? , you may be thinking, ‘I don’t have time for anything else. How can I take action when I barely manage to make it through the day with my own obligations?’ I know.  We are all busy and schedules are packed with school, sports, music lessons, work, and more.  But action doesn’t have to be time consuming.  Here are a few thoughts on quick things you can do that will make a positive impact on the mission to address childhood hunger in our area.  Will you take the challenge to pick one of these and do it before the month ends?  You can do it!  I believe in you.

• Follow Food for Hope (@foodforhopeCO) on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram.  Share one post with your network!

• Skip a coffee or meal out & donate the amount to buy food for local kids in need!  You can Venmo us! @foodforhopeco

• Sign-up to volunteer for a future date!  Just one or two hours of your time can help tremendously. 

• Sponsor a Thanksgiving meal box for a local family in need for our upcoming Feed 5000 meal distribution. 

A special thank you to the groups that have taken action with Food for Hope so far this month!

●City of Northglenn Clerk’s Office                         ● Good Shepherd United Methodist Church

●King Soopers Marketplace                                  ● Intrepid Bodyworks

●Xcel Day of Service                                             ●Girl Scout Troops 65753 & 630687

10 Years Ago...The Food for Hope Story

10 Years Ago - The Food for Hope Story

Please bear with me a moment while I reminisce about the beginning of Food for Hope, which was exactly 10 years ago this month! I am in awe of what this community has empowered us to accomplish, and the ways our programs have been built through a collective passion for the welfare of our children. 

In August 2014, Pastor Ruben Villarreal of ThornCreek Church, Mayor Heidi Wiliams of Thornton, & soon-to-be Executive Director Emily Stromquist decided to convene members of the community around the cause of hunger. At the time, Mayor Williams had recently had an experience seeing bare cupboards in a resident’s home, and she was left with a heavy burden to help with hunger in a bigger way.  During the same season, Pastor Villarreal had been feeling led by God to start a ministry providing weekend food to local children experiencing food insecurity.  His connection to a similar program in another state provided a template for what would become Food for Hope. 

How do you start a movement from scratch?  We decided to bring together local stakeholders to see who might be willing to partner with us in this effort. I remember not being sure who would actually come to the meeting at the City of Thornton building, but I was encouraged when many local leaders of businesses, organizations, and churches showed up!  What should we call this program? How do we raise money? How do we ensure this program continues once it starts? These were just some of the questions we tackled in those early days.  The overall consensus was that the most important thing was that children, who are most vulnerable to adverse circumstances, should never have to be without food. 

In September of that year, I remember receiving the very first check donated to “Food for Hope.” When I found the envelope, I remember falling to my knees in disbelief. Someone in the community - a stranger! - chose to invest in our effort?!  My reaction may sound dramatic, but I think that was the moment I realized we may actually be able to make this thing happen.  A couple of months later we took our first 50 weekend food bags to McElwain Elementary school. At the time we were directly purchasing items off of the shelf at a discount grocery store. Imagine the looks we got when we rolled up to the register with our overflowing carts every week!  But we pressed forward and grew and continued to find better ways to make our mission a reality. 

Now a staff of seven, we have one employee whose entire job is to coordinate and order food!  We receive an average of 6,000 pounds of food a week and distribute it back out to in-school food banks, weekend food bags, and School Fuel snacks. We are able to curate culturally sensitive and healthy food choices to give families who are struggling dignity even as they access the resources they need.  What began as a desire to help, has turned into a community effort that continues to blow me away each day.  The hope is that students receiving nutritional support from us will become successful, contributing members to our community and they will partner with us to help even more children coming through school in the future. 

Thank you to everyone who continues to come alongside us.  I can’t wait to see what the next 10 years bring.  Cheers to full bellies and hopeful hearts!

On The Move!

Along with the rest of the world, Food for Hope is settling into the new normal after the COVID-19 Pandemic. The events of 2020 set in motion a period of rapid growth in our organization.  A challenging economic environment led to skyrocketing rates of need and a sharp increase in demand for our services. At the end of 2019, Food for Hope had two employees, an annual budget of $196,500, and one food bank operating in schools.  In the current fiscal year, we have 7 employees, our budget is targeted at just over $1 million, and we will be operating 10 food banks in the fall alongside our other programs and special projects. 

As you can imagine, the last five years have been a dynamic time of increasing capacity and making our operations as efficient and effective as possible. However, Food for Hope has recently hit a wall in our ability to come alongside more schools and help more families in need.  At our current location, we are out of physical space and unable to increase the amount of food we are able to receive and distribute each week.  This fact has led to the creation of a waitlist for our services, which currently holds 5 locations requesting food banks that we cannot yet accommodate.  Additionally, our space only has one cramped office for all of the staff to share and is not spacious enough for efficient food deliveries.  Several times last year, large food orders took over 4 hours to be unloaded due to the logistical challenges of our location.

All of the factors above prompted our staff and board to undertake the strategic planning process over the last seven months.  We discussed everything from the origin of Food for Hope to our renewed vision and hopes for how we can serve Adams County into the future. 

Highlights of the Strategic Plan Include:

• Food for Hope’s commitment to our founding principles and our culture of equality, deep relationship, compassion, and community.

• In order to serve more families we will work to:

• Strengthen operations efficiency & scalability.

• Bolster our organizational infrastructure.

• Continue to focus on culturally relevant, healthy, and locally sourced food.

• Develop relationships across Adams County to increase resources and help meet the demand for services we are experiencing.

• We will work toward reaching more underserved communities in the Eastern side of Adams County.

Additionally, I am very excited to share two big announcements! 

First, Food for Hope has acquired a new space, and will be moving into a new building to start the school year!  This new space will be the first office and warehouse space dedicated solely to our mission.  This move will allow our organization to grow and provide more healthy, culturally sensitive food to local children in need.  There will be more details to come, and we can’t wait to share our new home with the community.

Next, as Food for Hope celebrates 10 years of service to Adams County, we are looking forward to how we can better grow our mission.  In September, we are launching a Growth Initiative with a goal of raising $2 million in 2 years!  I hope that you will join us on what is sure to be an exciting journey ahead.  It is so important for our organization to have partners who are invested in our mission.  Please follow along with our monthly newsletter and on social media to be kept up on the latest of what is happening.  Keep your eyes out for an invitation to an Open House this fall, where you can tour our new space and get a glimpse of our vision for the future. 

Supporting Families Through the Summer: An Interview with Suzi Vega Bradley

Summer Support - Behind the Scenes

I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Suzi Vega Bradley, the office manager for STEM Launch in Adams 12 Five Star Schools. Suzi helps facilitate connecting Food for Hope services to families.  Her work has enabled our organization to reach many families in need, particularly during the summer.  Please enjoy this opportunity to learn more about what it looks like to be on the frontlines of serving families in our community.

Suzi, tell us a little bit about your role working for Adams 12 Five Star Schools.

I am an office manager at STEM Launch, and I have been with the district for seven years. My key responsibilities include supporting the front office staff, handling financial and HR duties for the school, making sure the school has the necessary supplies, and helping the Parent Teacher Organization fundraise and plan events. Something I absolutely love is planning events, but the most impactful piece of my job is working with students to make sure they have what they need to succeed each day.  This is a big responsibility because students need everything from uniforms to food and school supplies. I communicate regularly with families and manage the resource room/food bank to connect them with what they need.    

What trends have you seen over the last few years in the needs of families?

I have definitely seen an increase in the needs of families over the last few years. I think that food insecurity has become a major cause of concern because the cost of food has skyrocketed.  Our school is based in an area of high need. In listening to parents, especially those who are in single-income households, they are struggling to pay for basic electricity, water, and housing. Then, on top of that, they have to manage childcare and transportation. Many are in the situation of having to choose what bills to pay because they can’t cover everything. Clothing and food are, by far, the most significant needs for students and their families. I’ve seen a big increase in utilization of resources in the last four years. Families have spread the word about how we can support them, and we have seen a big response here at STEM Launch.

Part of your position is helping Food for Hope at our food banks over the summer.  What was your experience like working in the two Food for Hope food banks last summer?  

For me, it was bucket-filling.  Don’t get me wrong, it was hard work.  Both locations I managed were very busy, with a lot of students and families visiting for food support. But it was bucket-filling because I was able to play a little role in making sure parents could take a moment and breathe.  We saw mainly families at STEM Launch.  At Northglenn High, there were mostly newcomer students accessing resources.   For those students, being able to have access to food at school to help their families has been extremely helpful and empowering. It was a joy to see their faces as they discovered new foods and products to take home.  

What are some challenges that families with students face during the summer months?

The biggest challenge that students and families face during the summer is finding affordable childcare so that parents can work. Parents struggle to afford childcare, and when they can’t, it’s unclear what type of care is being received. Additionally, summer brings more expenses and challenges around food, bills, and entertainment. 

In what way do you see Food for Hope food banks supporting these families?

I am amazed, thankful, and in awe hearing about how Food for Hope started and where it is now. I can’t wait to see how far Food for Hope will go in the future. It’s a noble cause putting effort into making sure kids get fed. I come from a place where I have seen the effects of poverty - where people don’t know how and what they will eat the following day. I remember growing up with those struggling families, and now, I wonder what their lives would have been like if there was a place like Food for Hope where people could go and get that basic need met?  Being accessible and culturally relevant is so important, and Food for Hope does that. Food for Hope is a wonderful organization and I pray that it keeps on growing. The more Food for Hope succeeds, the more people they can help, and that is beautiful!

Food for Hope - Mythbusters

Here at Food for Hope, we love to be in the community and connect with as many people as possible. As we share our mission, we have heard a lot of common misconceptions about how things operate behind the scenes at a nonprofit organization. I thought I would take this opportunity to pull back the curtain and bust some of the most frequently heard myths!

Myth #1: Food for Hope is mostly funded by the government. 

Food for Hope receives funding from several different sources, and the government is not one of our primary contributors.  Many people are surprised that almost half of our overall funding currently comes from local individuals and businesses.  We are not exaggerating when we tell members of the community that their contributions are vital to what we do!  The next greatest sources of funding are grants. I currently work with our grant writer to write at least 30 grants a year from various local and regional foundations. Grants are never guaranteed, and sometimes you spend many hours working on an application that results in no additional funds.  Food for Hope also hosts fundraising events and community activities like our annual Gala, Bike N Brew, and the Perfect Pairing events. These events are always encouraging and fun, but serve mainly as an opportunity to share our mission with the community, and are not a primary source of the money we need to operate.  Finally, Food for Hope does utilize some government funding, and the available amount increased for the last few years due to COVID response initiatives. However, these resources are going away and will not be a reliable source in the coming years. As our organization grows, it is a formidable challenge to continue to expand our sources of funding and provide a solid foundation for operational expansion to help more children in need!  If you or your business would like to partner with us, please visit our website https://foodforhope.net/donate.

Myth #2: All of the food that Food for Hope distributes is donated or able to be purchased at a discounted price.

Many people understandably assume that hunger relief organizations can get most of the food they distribute for free or at a very low cost.  This may be true for some nonprofits, but unfortunately, it is not the case for Food for Hope.  On an average week during the school year, Food for Hope distributes several thousand pounds of food through our various programs.  Due to the diverse nature of the communities we serve and our focus on students, we try to be very intentional about sourcing quality items that are healthy and culturally sensitive.  All of these factors together mean that we cannot rely solely on donated food to meet the needs of our programs.  In fact food is currently the largest expense in our overall operational budget.  Food for Hope orders food from the Food Bank of the Rockies and those items are discounted from prices you would find in the grocery store. However, the quantity we order means the cost is still significant.  Any food items that we cannot source from the Food Bank of the Rockies, we purchase from other vendors like Costco, East Denver Food Hub, and Barber’s Foods.  We are very thankful to receive food donations from local community partners like We Don’t Waste, and some food vendors such as Bimbo Bakeries.  However, donated food only makes up only 15% of what we use overall.

Myth #3: Many people take advantage of Food for Hope’s resources when they don’t really need them.

Unfortunately, as with any community resource, you do have people who abuse the system and take things that they don’t truly need.  It's unfortunate that this is the case, and can lead to people becoming cynical about the purpose of nonprofit organizations as a whole.  However, after working in this field for 10 years, I can attest that those taking advantage of resources are very few, and don't encompass the vast majority of families. Most of the students and families we’ve encountered truly value the resources provided to them, and they have a tremendous amount of dignity in not using a program when they don’t need it anymore.  Last year, there was a mom who came to one of our food banks regularly. Shortly after, we went a period of time without seeing her.  When she returned, we offered to check her in to shop but she kindly refused. She had only come back to bring two friends whose families were struggling and needed nutritional support.  This example is far more in line with what we see as we get to know the families we serve.  We hope that others will see the beauty in giving families who are hurting a hand up when they need it most.

If you have any other questions about what goes on behind the scenes at Food for Hope, send me an email and I'll consider featuring it in a future blog post! Email me at emily@foodforhope.net

Consider supporting Food for Hope’s mission to help us source nutritious foods, enabling us to expand our operations and serve even more students and families facing food insecurity in our community   https://foodforhope.net/donate

Addressing Food Insecurity: Thornton, CO Takes Action

Running a race alone is daunting but taking it on with someone you know can make the challenge feel less overwhelming.  This analogy rings true for nonprofit leaders and organizations too.  Although we are working to alleviate an issue that may truly never be completely resolved, collaboration enables us to recognize the victories and fosters a collective sense of hope, propelling us forward in our missions.

At the end of March, the City of Thornton brought together leaders from various food banks and organizations to share how they are addressing the growing need for nutritional support in our community. The meeting provided an opportunity for all of us to collaborate, share insights, and explore strategies to better support each other and the community in addressing food insecurity.

Food insecurity is a term that is used a lot, but what does it actually mean? Food insecurity is defined as the lack of access to a consistent supply of nutritious food necessary for maintaining an active and healthy lifestyle and remains a pressing concern in Thornton and across the entire state of Colorado. One in five children in Adams County is experiencing uncertainty about when or if they will receive their next meal.  Despite being a vibrant and growing community, many individuals and families in our area struggle to put food on the table due to a variety of factors, including low wages, unemployment, illness, high living costs, and limited access to affordable, healthy food options.

Although there are many challenges that nonprofits face in today’s economy, I walked away feeling encouraged to hear about all of the great work being done to help those in our city who are struggling.  This meeting reinforced my belief that the mission of hunger relief cannot be accomplished alone.  Organizations should work to find and serve in their area of strength, but we also need the support of our cities, businesses, faith communities, clubs, and organizations to help us succeed in what we are trying to achieve. The City of Thornton is leading the way by making an effort to connect its nonprofit leaders, and I am optimistic that this collaboration will only strengthen our overall impact as we move forward.

To learn more about the mission of Food for Hope and the organization’s impact, visit our website: https://foodforhope.net/impact.

From Vision to Reality: How Food for Hope Transformed Hunger Relief in Adams County

Food for Hope began in 2014 when ThornCreek Church and Thornton Mayor Heidi Williams decided to take action in their community against the rising issue of hunger. The vision was to be a dynamic partnership with the City of Thornton, Adams County school districts, people of all faiths and walks of life, businesses, and residents. They wanted to have a weekend food program that distributed healthy food, specifically for children who were reliant upon receiving free and reduced meals at school. The program would be funded by organizations and ordinary people who simply cared about children.

In May 2014, Emily Stromquist was brought in to be the Executive Director of their effort. In early 2015, Food for Hope became an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Since then, Food for Hope has been consistently moving forward - pursuing financial sponsorship and healthy food donations to further its mission. Over the years, Food for Hope has expanded services to include Weekend Food Bags, School Fuel Snacks, and In-School Food Banks. This model is different from other food assistance models as it is centered around school district partnership, and working with social work teams to identify and serve children who are suffering most from food insecurity.  Currently, Food for Hope operates 7 food banks that provide both fresh and shelf-stable food, including Adams 14 Hope Center, 27J Brighton Family Resource Center, Pinnacle Charter School, Shadow Ridge Middle School, McElwain Elementary, STEM Launch, and Northglenn High School. The Weekend Food Bag & School Fuel Snack programs ensure that children get the proper nutrition they need to learn, grow, and thrive at school. Food For Hope continues to empower and strengthen the future of our communities by providing vital nutrition to children in need throughout Adams County.

To learn more about the mission of Food for Hope and the organization’s impact, visit our website: https://foodforhope.net/impact.