BERGER IN THE COMMUNITY: KIDS’ FOOD BASKET

Kids’ Food Basket began in 2002 in an effort to aid 125 students at three schools in Kent County with nourishing evening meals packaged in brown lunch bags. With the help of community partners, over 20 years later, Kids’ Food Basket now provides 10,000 meals a day to children in need. Each of these meals, or Sack Suppers as they are called, contains one serving of fruit, vegetables, protein, and a healthy snack.

With a growing network of community partners in Kent, Muskegon, Ottawa, and Allegan counties, Kids’ Food Basket is able to engage with schools, churches, and food pantries to identify and reach under-resourced populations in the West Michigan area.

Sustainable, community-driven farming and working with the West Michigan community are at the core of this project. This organization is constantly striving to break down barriers to food equity and to help solve the causes of childhood hunger with long-term solutions. 

One of these solutions aims to educate the community with hands-on fundamental gardening. This involves teaching the community about where nutritious food comes from and how to grow it. They increase healthy food access for those in need through the growth and distribution of sustainably grown fruits and vegetables on their farmland. 

Kids’ Food Basket’s mission is to help nourish children in West Michigan to reach their full potential. This week, we were able to help them on their way to that goal by helping prepare, and pack Sack Suppers for children in our community! We even took a stack of their signature brown paper lunch bags back with us for our team to decorate! 

Did you know: Berger Chevrolet employees can choose to opt-in and pledge to donate to organizations like Kids’ Food Basket via our payroll deduct donation!? Last year, our employees donated over $30,000 towards local non-profit organizations through this program!

There are many ways you can choose to support this cause. From monetary donations or decorating paper lunch bags for Sack Suppers, to preparing and packing them, to volunteering on Kids’ Food Basket’s sustainable farm. It’s important for our community to continue to come together in an effort to continue to provide nutritious meals for those kids who might not otherwise have access to them.

If you’re interested in learning more about Kids’ Food Basket or would like to volunteer, click here.

Volunteer at Kids Food Basket