Feeding the masses: how KFB feeds 7000 daily

By Bryce Kent

staff writer

Northview Students at the Gobble Wobble Run
courtesy of Chloe Warmuskerken

Imagine going home every night to no food, having to go through everyday tasks after school, things like homework, showering, doing chores but with one key thing missing: dinner. According to Troy Vos, coordinator of the Kids Helping Kids programs at Kids Food Basket, says 1 out of 5 kids goes hungry each night in West Michigan, that means that statistically, any six out of your 30 kid math class could go home to no food. Kids Food Basket is here to get that number of kids down to 0.

Every day, Kids Food Basket, centered in three area cities (Grand Rapids,Muskegon, and Holland) feed over 7000 area children with a sack supper so they have something to eat for dinner. These meals consist of a protein (peanut butter sandwich, trail mix, etc), a fruit (always local from area farms), a veggie, and then a healthy treat (such as granola or pudding). All of these things highly appreciated by all their recipients, but feeding all these kids is not cheap.

The only way that Kids Food Basket can ever do any of this is because of help from the community. In addition to people volunteering their time to pack lunches and then transport them to schools, many do outreach events to earn money, everything from kids selling pickles, to restaurants giving part of their proceeds for the night to the KFB. Area schools also help, including Northview, Vos says “Northview’s 10,000+ bags you decorated were impressive and they went a long way and you really pulled through on your Stuff the Bus event.” KFB also does some of their own events such as the Gobble Wobble, a 4 mile run on Thanksgiving morning in East Grand Rapids to raise funds for their operations.

Part of Kids Food Baskets facilities, this area is where volunteers bag
and pack lunch items for distribution to over 7000 kids in West Michigan
courtesy of Bryce Kent

As the holiday season rolls around, the time to give back comes into many of our heads, Vos encourages everyone to keep Kids Food Basket as an option for volunteering opportunities. They offer volunteering positions for all schedules and skill levels. Anyone can come in and volunteer for hour time slots 7 days a week from 7AM till they close after dinner time. If you have any questions you can call their offices any time and they will be happy to assist you. “One in five kids go hungry each night but 5 in 5 have the power to combat that,” Vos said. So what can you do to give back to those kids less fortunate than yourself?

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