The importance of good nutrition in children can’t be emphasized further. It is key to healthy growth and development. While it is important for each and every child to have access to adequate and nutritious food, not everyone is able to. This is the reason that pushed the charity, It’s All About the Kids, to do something about children who are not getting sufficient and healthy food.
It’s All About the Kids started in 2004 with one goal – to feed the kids. In an interview with the founder and president of the organization, Angela Brannon-Baptiste, conducted by Kristi Carter of Global Positive News Network, Angela shared how the organization started, its victories and struggles, as well as its future plans and endeavors.
Sharing how the project began more than 10 years ago, Angela recalled how they spent three months looking for people to sponsor the charity. She happily narrated how they were able to raise a total of 4 million dollars in a span of three months! This money paved the way for the launch of It’s All About the Kids which allowed them to help thousands of kids in San Diego. During the first day, only 30 families signed up. They continued distributing thousands of meals and it later grew to 150 families!
Every week, Angela said they were giving away about 5,000 to 8,000 meals. They had been getting their supplies from the food bank. They used to rent a truck to have the food delivered. Today, they already have a pantry in a shipping container divided into quarters. One quarter is for dry goods and the remaining three quarters for canned goods and fresh produce. They even have a refrigeration unit inside the container.
Besides feeding the kids and providing them free lunches, IAATK has done many other things for kids in need. They distribute toys, educational materials and even bicycles to the children in Barrio Logan. They also conducted after school programs and took time to impart essential life skills for the youth and homeless children of Baja Mexico. One of the kids they mentored during the first 14 years of IAATK, Christy, came back and was offered a job as a pantry manager after she volunteered. She is among several other kids who went back to volunteer their services to the charity as a way of thanking them for the help they received.
IAATK believes that kids need food not only to grow healthy but to also learn and succeed. Today, they continue create fundraising projects so they can help more and more children. Feel free to visit their website, itsallaboutthekids.org to learn more about the organization.
IAATK is just one of the many charities out there whose goal is to make a difference in the lives of others. We may not belong to an organization or charity, but there certainly are ways for us to help those in need and spread kindness.
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