THORNTON —A new weekend food assistance program serving elementary schools in the Adams 12 School District is already planning to expand its space and the number of kids it serves after distributing 2,665 bags of food to 180 families at five schools during its first year.
“It’s incredible how far we’ve come already, and it’s exciting because it’s moving in the right direction,” said Emily Stromquist, executive director of Food for Hope. “We’ve been growing so quickly — adding schools every few months — that we’re already going to max out on our space. Soon, we’ll have to pause where we’re at until we’re able to move into our new space.”
is a nonprofit sponsored by Food Bank of the Rockies that relies on the contributions and time of community volunteers who pack, deliver and pay for a weekend supply bag that is delivered every Friday to 377 students across six schools this year. .
Thornton Elementary, Coronado Elementary, McElwain Elementary, North Star Elementary, North Mor Elementary and Rocky Mountain Elementary in Westminster are the program’s current recipient schools.
“Those are particularly high-need schools,” said Jill Collins, the Adams 12 District wellness coordinator and a board member of a sister program, Totes for Hope.
All of the six schools have a free and reduced lunch rate that fluctuates in the 81 to 86 percentiles.
In the Adams 12 School District, 41.5 percent of all students qualify for free and reduced lunch, and 1,050 of those students are considered homeless.
Grace Taylor, principal at North Star Elementary School at 8740 N. Star Drive receives more than 70 bags of food every week for her students from Food For Hope.
“It is amazing when our community liaison goes through the building on Friday and drops the totes off, the kids are so excited,” Taylor said. “We’re very grateful for this program — it’s had a big impact on our kids and families. The kids are more focused in class and they’re less worried about where their next meal is coming from. That’s absolutely crucial for these students.”
Along with Food for Hope, the school district uses a Food Bank of the Rockies program called Totes for Hope. That program, which also launched in Adams 12 last year, already serves 800 students in the district, including high schools. So, Food for Hope provides an additional, nearly 400 weekend meals for families.
“It has definitely exceeded my personal expectations,” Collins said. “The reason that I think it’s been so successful is the level of community support that Food For Hope has in terms of volunteers and people willing to donate toward the purchase of food. I don’t think any of us expected it to be in so many schools in such a short period of time.”
It’s grown so quickly, in fact, that the small storage room inside Summit of Peace Lutheran Church is no longer big enough to hold all of the food needed.
“Adams 50 has no food program at all, and I would really like to partner with them, as well. That’s a future goal,” Stromquist said. “But just right now, we’re purchasing 1,500 to 2,000 pounds of food per week as of next month, and that space just isn’t big enough.”
Luckily, a partner of Food for Hope since its inception, , is willing to provide needed space.
The church of 700 members is getting ready to break ground later this year on a complex that will dedicate 5,000 square feet of space specifically to the Food For Hope program.
“We’re hopefully going to break ground this summer on the new location, which is between 136th Avenue and 144th Avenue on Washington Street, directly behind Cabela’s,” said Ruben Villarreal, the pastor who started ThornCreek Church 13 years ago.
“We could house all of the food for Food for Hope there,” he said. “They will have a dedicated space to assemble the food packages as well as office space, and a loading dock for box delivery trucks that (they’re planning to buy), which are the biggest needs right now.”
Megan Mitchell: 303-954-2650, mmitchell@denverpost.com or @Mmitchelldp
Food for hope
forforhope.net or 720-593-0940
