Food Bank for Monterey County

Mission

Our mission is “to lead community efforts in the awareness and elimination of hunger in Monterey County.”

The Big Idea

Every Friday after school, Kids N.O.W. provides children with a bag of food for weekend nourishment, assuring them a stable supply of items that assuage hunger and address nutritional needs.

Our BIG IDEA, Kids N.O.W., provides hungry children with food to take home over weekends, a time when they’re at highest risk for hunger and do not know the whats, whens, or ifs of their next meal. We serve over 2000 children in school districts where child poverty is 90% and 33% of children are homeless. Kids N.O.W. addresses both the hunger and nutritional gap faced by children lacking vital nutrients they require and assures them a stable supply of specially selected items that support their growth and development. This program also promotes lifestyle practices that maximize the benefits of the nourishing food. We continue to build on this program’s success by increasing the quantities and nutritional quality of the food and expanding it to more schools as funding allows. We are also adding Youth Produce Markets at current Kids N.O.W. sites and at HeadStart locations to supply fresh produce.

“The healthy food my kids get at the Food Bank’s Kids N.O.W. program eases my worries about weekend meals, which I can’t always afford for us. I can focus more on sharing quality time with them and catching up with what they’re doing in school instead of being worried sick about how I’m going to be able to feed them. It’s a relief to know the Food Bank’s there for us when money’s tight. I live with a lot of uncertainty but I can be certain that my family won’t ever have to go hungry.”

— Tony S., Age 43, Salinas