Rotary Club Assembles 60 Holiday Food Baskets at Northridge Elementary

Holiday Baskets for needy families in Fair Oaks? Many of you reading this story will find it hard to believe the extent of the problem within our own community in Fair Oaks. To help meet the needs of the community the Rotary Club of Fair Oaks in conjunction with a number of local businesses, charities, and schools assembled and delivered 60 food baskets to families Thursday Dec. 15.

One of our local elementary schools, , is a Title 1 school, which means that a large percentage of the students qualify for federally subsidized breakfast and lunch programs throughout the school year. It is these same families that need extra help at this time of year. Marci Ortega, a Kindergarten teacher at Northridge, says each family at the school is asked about their desire to participate in the program during parent conferences. That way each family is given an opportunity to participate in a confidential manner. 

The need for the baskets has more than doubled over the past several years as local families continue to struggle with the tough economy. Marci has been participating in and helping to run the program for 14 years. When the program first started it was small enough to be run within the school. As the needs grew, Rotary began to participate about 10 years ago. But today the requirements are so large that Rotary and Northridge have had to reach out to others for help.

Tom Rains, the Rotarian in charge of the project, says the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

“The Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services along with Rohrer Brothers Produce, and UNFI organic foods have all been extremely generous,” said Rains.

The other key to delivering this many baskets is the volunteer labor. Organizing the project starts in September to identify the role that each of the major sponsors will play. Food donations are gathered throughout the fall with final assembly taking place in a single day. Many of the volunteers work from 7 a.m. until the last basket is delivered at 4 p.m.

A typical basket consists of canned vegetables, breakfast cereal, brownie mix, canned fruit, pasta, beans, and other items, including stuffing mix. Each family is given their choice of a turkey or ham for their dinner. Rotary offers to deliver the baskets but most families pick them up at the end of the school day. This is a very emotional and happy time with hugs and tears as the boxes are loaded into cars. 

Tom Rains sees the need growing from year to year. For the first time we are delivering baskets to families at with the expectation that there will be additional needs next year. For more information about this service project or other projects that Rotary is involved in please visit the WEB site at http://rotaryfairoaks.org/.