Sen. Richard Pan challenges Sacramento to reach 1 million meals served to needy families in 2019
Sen. Richard Pan is on a quest to connect more Sacramento kids with the free USDA meals they qualify for in summer but often never eat.
Last week, Sen. Pan announced the next steps in his Million Meal campaign. Mayor Darrell Steinberg offered his support at a press conference held at the Sierra Health Foundation headquarters on Garden Highway.
Tagging the effort as “Farm to EVERY Fork,” Sen. Pan announced that Sacramento County is one of just two counties to receive a $280,000 marketing grant from the Center for Eco-Literacy, money that could be used to buy billboards or wrap buildings.
Pan also announced that the No Kid Hungry non-profit would fund zero-emission food trucks to deliver summer meals in the Natomas and Elk Grove school districts.
Sacramento County will be the first county in the state to use a paperless reporting system offered by Gold Star Foods. This system when implemented in Kentucky saw a 43% increase in federal reimbursement dollars and more meals served in their summer meals program.
Sacramento County is one of the few counties where 100% of the produce used for the summer meals program is sourced locally. However, in 2015, Sacramento left over $3 million in federal dollars unused because our summer meal programs were under utilized.
Since Sen. Pan launched his campaign last year, the number of summer meals distributed in Sacramento County has grown by 100,000 — to about 605,000.
Partners in this effort included:
Kathy Saile, CA Director of Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry Campaign
Vice Mayor Eric Guerra acting in his role as Board Chair of the Sacramento Air Quality Management District
Leyla Marandi, Program Manager Center for Eco-Literacy
Sean Leer, CEO of Gold Star Foods
Arnold Gamueda and Bryce Forbin, students from Improve Your Tomorrow.
