SACRAMENTO, Calif. (April 30, 2020) Starting today, hundreds of students at Sacramento State will be able to pick up hearty packaged meals on campus each week thanks to a partnership between the City of Sacramento, the school and chef Chris Jarosz, owner of the Broderick Roadhouse restaurants in Sacramento and West Sacramento.

Mayor Darrell Steinberg will join Sacramento State President Robert S. Nelsen and chef Chris Jarosz to hand out the first meals at 11 a.m. outside the Residence Halls on the Sacramento State campus. Students will be asked to show their One Card student ID to get a food package.

The meal delivery effort is funded by a $20,000 grant from the City Attorney’s Justice for Neighbors program. This program focuses on finding solutions for the City’s worst nuisance properties that endanger neighborhood health and safety. Penalties collected from the program will be used to pay for a total of 6,000 meals prepared by Jarosz and his Broderick Roadhouse team over the next four weeks at their restaurant in midtown and at the Washington Unified School District’s culinary kitchen in West Sacramento.

“We have a dedicated staff here that works hard every day on behalf of our neighborhoods and residents, so we are honored to be able to help out in any way we can,” said City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood.

Beef and vegetables

Five hundred quart-sized containers with enough food for two or three meals will be distributed on Thursdays and Fridays on the Sacramento State campus over the next four weeks. This week’s menu includes beef and vegetables, barbeque chicken, macaroni and cheese and vegan chili.

“I applaud our City Attorney and my own staff for working together and thinking creatively about how we can use city resources during this difficult time to help hundreds of young people,” said Mayor Darrell Steinberg. “I hope this helps our students focus on their studies without having to worry about where their next meal is coming from.”

Even before Covid-19 shut down the Sacramento State campus and its food service, about half of students reported experiencing some food insecurity, and a quarter said they lacked regular access to food. Since instruction went virtual, about 300 students have reached out for help, said Danielle Munoz, who manages the school’s CARES crisis assistance center. Munoz worked with Julia Burrows on the mayor’s staff to design the meal delivery program.

“One of the most heartbreaking elements of the COVID-19 crisis is the increased stress and uncertainty that our housing insecure and homeless students are experiencing,” said Sacramento State President Robert S. Nelsen. “Disruption is stressful even under the best situations. Imagine what it is like to be hungry and unsure where your next meal will come from while trying to learn on Zoom. I am immensely grateful to Mayor Steinberg and Broderick Roadhouse for providing meals to hungry students at Sacramento State. We must come together and care for one another during this crisis, and the Hornet Family is grateful that Sacramento has stepped up for our students in need.”

‘Nothing more rewarding’

It’s the second time in the past month that the Mayor’s Office has partnered with the City Attorney’s Office to feed Sacramentans affected by the Covid-19 stay-at-home order. A Justice for Neighbors grant of $174,000 has been used to fund meal deliveries to seniors in low-income apartment complexes by five restaurants: Mulvaney’s B&L, Binchoyaki, Allora, Canon and Camden Spit & Larder.

Raley’s has donated the use of a refrigerated truck to deliver this week’s meals to Sacramento State. In the coming weeks, Paratransit, Inc. will use its buses to deliver the meals to campus, where they will be stored in the dining hall and food pantry refrigeration units. Each container of food will cost the City $10. Paratransit is also handling delivery of the restaurant meals to seniors.

“Covid-19 and the shelter-in-place directive has changed the lives of everyone, young to old, and shed a light on the gaps in access to the essential things in life, particularly food access,” said Tiffani Fink, CEO of Paratransit, Inc. “For over 40 years, Paratransit, Inc. has been connecting the community, and today we are simply grateful to be able to utilize our resources to deliver food to Sacramento State students in need of assistance.”

In the weeks since his restaurants shut down in mid-March due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Jarosz said his crew has prepared more than 15,000 meals and delivered them to homeless people and seniors in subsidized complexes in Sacramento and Yolo counties for free, relying on donations of food for suppliers. He’s one of a half dozen restaurateurs in Sacramento who have launched major charitable feeding efforts since the state and county announced stay at home orders.

“There’s been nothing more rewarding in my restaurant career than this,” said Jarosz, a veteran of Sacramento’s dining scene. “It’s nice to make a nice entrée and get a nice review, but that really doesn’t mean anything. This is changing peoples’ lives.”