Group 1 Automotive’s Post

Those of you who've known me for a while know that I've been President of PVEN in Monroe County for the past 5+ years. In addition to the food, clothing, summer meals, diaper and menstrual products programs, PVEN also runs a large Holiday Toys program. Here's a short write-up and video of this year's program (and yes, that's me with the silly elf hat!)

Did you know that one in five children in the U.S. experience food insecurity? For kids that rely on free or reduced-priced meals at school, summer can mean a lack of access to nutritious food. That’s why we’ve joined Albertsons Companies Foundation’s first-of-its-kind coalition of foodbanks, school districts, community organizations, and other partners across the country to help tackle hunger. Check if your household qualifies for $120 for groceries per eligible child through USDA’s new, permanent Summer EBT program at SummerEBT.org

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Summer should be a time of joy and exploration for every child; however, it is often a tug-of-war for those experiencing food insecurity. When school is out of session, so are the free or reduced-price meals provided to nearly 25,000 children in the county. Our summer feeding program will distribute 5500 grocery boxes filled with kid-friendly food and nearly 20,000 heat & eat meals to help fill the gap for families when kids no longer have easy access to breakfast and lunch at school. Your support is crucial as we work to provide our kids the nutrition they need to keep growing and learning, even when school is not in session. Let's pull together, and beat summer hunger! https://lnkd.in/eNZrCuAp

Did you know that one in five children in the U.S. experience food insecurity? For kids that rely on free or reduced-priced meals at school, summer can mean a lack of access to nutritious food. That’s why we’ve joined the Albertsons Companies Foundation in a groundbreaking coalition to tackle summer hunger through the USDA’s new Summer EBT program. Partnering with @FeedingAmerica, @FRACtweets, @GiftCardBank, @HungerFreeUSA, @mRelief_form, @nokidhungry, and @PHAnews we’re reaching over 200 foodbanks, 300 school districts, and 1,500 organizations. Eligible families can get $120 per child for groceries. Check if you qualify at SummerEBT.org.

At Share Our Strength, we’re proud to launch #NoKidHungry’s CEO Pledge to End Summer, a national movement rallying CEOs across industries to invest dollars, raise awareness and use their voices to help feed more kids throughout the summer months. We arrived at a pivotal inflection point when Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, bipartisan legislation that allocates funding to provide kids with summertime meals. This was a huge milestone in No Kid Hungry’s long standing fight to expand access to summer meals for kids. But federal legislation is just the beginning. By committing to this pledge, CEOs, and their companies, are supporting our collective effort to ensure communities have the resources they need to implement the new USDA summer meals programs and increase the number of children receiving summer meals from 2.8 million to 30 million. We believe this is the type of collective action that will get us closer to ending summer hunger and making #NoKidHungry a reality. Join us at NoKidHungry.org/ceopledge

Meal Distribution Drive 176🙏 We pronounce each word with heart Community: Bringing together diverse hands and hearts, the meal distribution fosters a sense of community among all participants. Care: Through each meal handed out, the family demonstrates profound care, ensuring no one in the neighborhood goes hungry. Gratitude: The recipients' smiles reflect deep gratitude, appreciating every meal as a gesture of goodwill and connection. Kindness: Acts of kindness resonate through each packed lunch, showing that simple gestures can make significant differences.

Food Insecurity is a significant factor in student absenteeism For the first time in at least 50 years, a majority of U.S. public school students are from low-income families. 51% of students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade were eligible for the federal program that provides FREE and REDUCED-PRICE lunches. This lunch program is a rough proxy for poverty but the explosion of needy children in the nation’s classrooms is a recent phenomenon that has been gaining attention among educators, public officials, and social researchers. Even in wealthy Sarasota County, 52% of children were eligible for FREE LUNCHES-an an indicator of food insecurity at home meaning that they don’t have consistent access to sufficient quantities of affordable, nutritious food. Our Club in partnership with AAll Faiths Food Bank decided that we should help in alleviating this problem. In 2015 our Club/Foundation awarded AFFB a $60,000 five (5) year grant to place food pantries in all Title 1 schools in Sarasota County Schools We also committed to operating these pantries where needed. These school-based pantries are located on the school campus, making them a more readily accessible source of food assistance to families in need. They also try to be open at convenient school times so families can shop when arriving at school to pick up their children. So far, there are thirteen (13) school-based pantries in the program. Seven (7) of these are Title 1 schools. The top three (3) are Emma E Booker Elementary, Altavista Elementary School and Tuttle Elementary with Almost 95%, 92%, and 91% respectively of their students on FREE or REDUCED-PRICE lunches. The school district also provides FREE breakfasts to these schools. The Alta Vista Food Pantry was every other Thursday from 2:30pm-6pm excepting school breaks. We packed out food items for 60 families 2:30-3:30 and distribute from 3:30-6:00. During Holidays, we run Turkey Pantry, that operate like a regular Pantry, plus we would pack 125 Turkeys and Thanksgiving meal kits. #givingchallenge2024 #foodpantry #endinghunger #rotary #rotaryclubofsarasotafoundation #SarasotaCountySchools #allfaithsfoodbank #AltavistaSchool

More momentum with basic needs.

NEWS: Del Monte Foods, Inc. released a progress update on the first year of the "Nourishing Families by Nourishing Schools" program, a collaborative initiative launched in 2022 dedicated to enhancing the physical, mental, and social-emotional well-being of children. In year one, our partnership has: - Reached 1.25 million families with family-oriented nutritious and easy recipes and activities to foster community and connection through meals - Engaged more than two million children at nearly 4,700 K-12 schools with program content - Ensured inclusive reach with 67 percent of the students and families reached to date representing BIPOC populations and 75 percent of schools and districts reached serving under-resourced communities through Title I funding. Learn more about our work with Del Monte Foods, Inc. and access the press release here: https://lnkd.in/g2jE8943