St. Theresa’s Bread & Broth 4 Kids resumes school year food program

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - St. Theresa's Bread & Broth resumed its school year kids' program on Friday, September 9. The Bread & Broth 4 Kids (BB4K) weekend food bag program distributes bags of kid-friendly food to children in South Lake Tahoe.

These weekend food bags are distributed every Friday at all five K-8 schools in the Lake Tahoe Unified School District (LTUDS): Bijou Community School, Lake Tahoe Environmental Science Magnet School, Sierra House Elementary, Tahoe Valley Elementary, and South Tahoe Middle School.

Each bag contains seven single-serving, kid-friendly meals (2 breakfasts, 2 lunches, and 3 dinners), fresh fruit, and protein-enriched snacks to supplement weekend nourishment. BB4K has helped an average of 160 LTUSD students weekly over the school year, though during the height of the pandemic, 400 bags of food were going out weekly.

In addition, BB4K is continuing its healthy school snack program which provides boxes of protein bars to all LTUSD schools (K-12). The donated protein bars are distributed by the school administrative and nursing staff to children who may become hungry throughout the day. The snacks provided to the schools eliminate the need for teachers to pay for these snacks out of their personal funds and still address the continued needs of hungry children during the school day.

This distribution of healthy snacks and weekend food bags comes after a very successful Summer Food Program where over 1,500 food bags were given out over the nine-week summer break from school. In addition to children picking up food at Grace Hall each Wednesday, bags were delivered to seven child care centers serving low-income families.

The BB4K Weekend Food Bag Program began in September 2015, and student participation has grown over the years. This participation has increased due to the after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Caldor Fire evacuation, and more recently, because of families facing inflationary increases in rent, mortgage, gas, and groceries. Bread & Broth expanded the kids' program to include the Summer Program in 2017 and the Healthy Snack Program in 2019.

Parents interested in determining eligibility for their child to receive these BB4K weekend food bags can contact their child’s school office for an application form.

For those who would like to financially support or learn more about Bread & Broth’s B&B 4 Kids program, please visit their website at www.breadandbroth.org. Donations and volunteers are always welcome.