Foster Farms helped feed 825 elementary school students in California through the Food 4 Thought program, which provided 15- to 18-pound bags of groceries twice a month to students who logged eight hours in after-school tutoring per week during the school year.
The program, in its second year, gave 260,000 pounds of groceries to California families in need. According to Second Harvest Food Bank in Stanislaus County, Calif., which operates the program, Food 4 Thought addresses the need for food donations at a time when demand for food continues to rise — demand has risen 25% to 30% while general donations have dropped. Currently 4.5 million Californians — one in four of them children — still go hungry and the unemployment rate remains high in Stanislaus and Merced counties (17.6% and 18.9%, respectively).
The Food 4 Thought program served students at Empire Elementary, Orville Wright School, Eisenhut, Chrysler and Agnes Baptist schools in Modesto and Stanislaus counties, Schendel Elementary School and El Capitan Elementary School in Delhi, Franks Park Elementary School in Winton and Campus Park in Livingston. Schools were designated by the county school districts based on free or reduced school lunch participation and existing after-school programs.
