Food truck brings summer meals to students (and seniors!)
SAN JOSE – A new food truck will be rolling into in Mountain View on Friday, the result of a partnership between Santa Clara County, the Mountain View Whisman School District, and Second Harvest Food Bank to bring meals to children and families in need.
“Mountain View is a city with both significant affluence, but also pockets of need,” said Joe Simitian, President of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, who proposed County funding for the food truck program last year. “Because of this economic diversity it’s often difficult for folks in need to access services, and for service providers to reach them. That’s what this new food truck can do–bring the food to the kids and families who need it most.”
“Food insecurity doesn’t take a holiday just because it’s summer vacation,” said Simitian. “In fact, without a school lunch program readily available, summer can be particularly challenging for some families.”
The mobile food program is available to any child, which removes some of the stigma or fear around “signing up.” Adults can also pay for meals, and free meals are available for seniors at the Rengstorff Park site.
“Hey, if we want to help kids and their families, then we need to take our services out into the community,” Simitian said. “Parks, schools – these are community gathering places where we can help not just these kids, but their families as well.”
Simitian also noted that, “Senior meal programs have a decline in participation over the summer, because grandparents are often home caring for their grandkids. That’s why I’m particularly pleased at the creative collaboration with the County’s senior nutrition program. It lets us do even more.”
The mobile food program will be serving summer meals at the following locations throughout Mountain View:
June 14 – July 12. Closed July 4, 5
1625 San Luis Ave.
Breakfast 7:30- 8:30am,
Lunch 11:00 am – 1:30 pm
Castro Park
June 17- Aug. 2, Closed July 4, 5
1795 Latham St., Mountain View
Lunch only 11:30am – 12:15 pm
Rengstorff Park
5201 South Rengstorff Ave, Mountain View
Lunch only – 12:00pm – 1:30pm
* Senior meals available for free at this site.
“Summer is a challenging time for many families, because when schools go on break, kids lose access to free and reduced-price school breakfasts and lunches,” said Leslie Bacho, CEO of Second Harvest. “There is enough food for everyone, but the challenge has been getting it into the hands of the people who need it, which is why innovative solutions like the mobile food truck are so useful. We are grateful to have partners like the Mountain View Whisman School District and advocates like Supervisor Simitian, who are pushing the envelope and looking for new ways to partner with us on our vision to end hunger in our community.”
“The surest way to make certain people in need get the food and services they need is to bring the food and services to them,” said Simitian. “This will bring those essential programs to the folks who need them most, in places they can get to.”
While five out of ten school sites in the Mountain View Whisman School District have over 40% of students eligible for free and reduced meals, students still struggle to access food outside of school hours, and school staff estimate that some families are reluctant to sign up for reduced price meal programs.
To address this, in 2017 the district partnered with Second Harvest Food Bank to expand their normal summer school food program by piloting a summer food program at local parks and the local library. Over the course of that summer, they served 60,467 meals to children in Mountain View.
With the support of the County, and the addition of the new food truck, the district hopes to expand on that success and serve 100,000 meals over the summer and 450,000 meals during the school year.
“I’m sure most people don’t think of food trucks and County services as an obvious pair,” said Simitian. “But really, it makes all the sense in the world.”
Launch Event – Friday, June 14th
What: Launch of the Mountain View Whisman Summer Meals food truck, bringing meals to hundreds of K-8 students and seniors in Mountain View.
Who: Joe Simitian, President, Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
Leslie Bacho, CEO, Second Harvest Food Bank
Where: Theuerkauf Elementary School
1625 San Luis Ave
Mountain View, CA 94303
When: Friday, June 14, 2019
11:30 AM