Community Partner Spotlight: Feed Kids First

Success in the classroom starts in the pantry

By Stephanie Zuech, President

When kids have access to healthy meals every day, they feel better and do better in school. They have what they need to grow and just be kids. Schools can support children and families by being a place where children get the education that helps their brains develop and the food that helps brains and bodies grow. A school pantry is a vital resource for a happier, healthier school full of children ready to grow, learn and thrive!

The Feed Kids First School Pantry Program was launched in 2020 and is a partnership between local schools and other community resources to provide easy access to food and fill the gap where food insecurity exists among children. Our pantries are located directly inside each school and provide a more readily accessible source of food assistance in a trusting environment that is both familiar and supportive to the students and their families.

Childhood hunger is a national problem, but even more so a problem in Ohio. Over 400,000 children across Ohio live in households that are considered food insecure by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Here locally in Canton, almost 1 in 2 children are still determining where their next meal is coming from. Our School Pantry Program was established to help limit barriers impacting students’ ability to succeed in the classroom and making sure consistent access to food is part of this.

Feed Kids First is a partner of the Akron-Canton Foodbank and we work directly with each school to create a pantry that is unique to the needs of each school community. Some schools provide a dedicated space for the pantry where families can walk through and pick out their food. While others distribute pre-packaged bags of food. Since 2020, we have provided 2,496 meals, 150,000 snacks to students, and 1,178 holiday meal boxes at our eight Canton City partner schools: Belle Stone Elementary, Cedar Elementary, Gibbs Elementary, Early Learning Center @ Schreiber, STEAMM @ Hartford Middle School, Fairmount Learning Center, Passages @ Compton, and Bulldog Virtual @ Mason.