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In our efforts to cook with children as a means to help the needy, we have noticed that our students do not “see” who the hungry are in their daily lives.  They don’t realize that they walk amongst the children in their own schools and that they see them on the soccer field.  While we have a soup kitchen in our town, food banks haven’t been a notable presence…until now.

The San Francisco Food Bank has reached across the Bay to meet the need in Marin!   They have opened four new pantries at Marin elementary schools and community centers, targeting low-income families in San Rafael’s Canal District.

In the first week alone, over 600 families were served at festive distributions featuring all the fixings needed for holiday meals. One school principal commented, “This couldn’t have come at a better time. A lot of our parents do domestic work or construction, so they’ve been hit pretty hard lately.” She continued, “This community, they have that value that everything you’ve got, you work for. They help each other out.”

True to her word, 40 parents turned out at San Pedro Elementary School on a cold morning in November to man the Food Bank pantry. Pedro, Alejandro and Roberto* helped unload the truck as their children raced around, hand-writing signs showing what was available that day: carrots/zanahorias, chicken/pollo; rice/arroz, and many others. By 9:00am, almost 150 families with schoolchildren in tow were waiting by the gate.

The tables were decked with rice, sweet potatoes, apples, oranges, canned peas and corn, chicken and stuffing. No one left empty-handed. As the families filed back into the school with festive red bags full of food, one parent volunteer cheerfully encouraged them to return the following week and to bring the bag back with them to be filled once again.

*All names changed to protect identity

Please stay tuned – What’s Cooking will be working in Homeward Bound of Marin’s fabulous new kitchen to offer cooking classes for children that will benefit the hungry in our community.