Utah Food Bank

Sofia Rocha, Staff writer

For many Utah citizens, worrying about not having food on the table is not a problem, but for some it is a big worry, even kids. 1 in 7 kids worry about when their next meal will be, according to the Utah Food Bank website. Several people suffer from hunger, including kids and seniors. Thankfully, the Utah Food Bank has helped people by ending their hunger. They have come up with several programs that help several people across Utah with ending their hunger. There is the Mobile School Pantry, where a truck full of food goes to a school and gives food to students and their families if they need it and is free. This program was made to help kids and their families worry less about not having food on the table, and to help students with their education. There have been students who can’t focus during school because they’re worrying about when they’re next meal will be. Thus, this program was created. 

Another program that the Utah Food Bank has created is the Kids Cafe. This program is made to be in a partnership with after-school sites in elementary schools, Boys & Girls clubs and Community Centers. This program is for kids who are involved in after-school activities. In our local library, Hunter Library, they will have the Kids Cafe program there from Monday through Friday where youth can get a free meal and sometimes during the weekends. There are many other locations where this program takes place. The program was founded to help kids who don’t have food to eat at home or a place to go to after school is over. So far, everything’s been working well enough and kids have been going home with a full stomach.

There’s another program that is very similar to the Mobile School Pantry called the Mobile Pantry. Instead of going to schools, a truck full of food goes to communities that have been classified as food deserts or are inaccessible or underserved by traditional food pantries. The goal of this program is to help anyone who doesn’t have access to food and try to make them feel comfortable to ask for help if needed. The mobile pantries happen in many different places in Utah that have been classified as food deserts or are inaccessible to food. On the Utah Food Bank website, there is no report of how well this program is going, but we are very sure this program has helped several people who are in need of food. 

This next program has helped several senior citizens across Utah who are in need of food. This program is called the Food Box Programs. There are two different programs, one is called Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) and the other is the UFB Food Box Program. The CSFP offers a free monthly package that contains ten days worth of food. The Utah Food Bank has a list of what the box contains. It contains canned meat, peanut butter, cheese, fruit, dried bans, vegetables, shelf-stable milk, chili, rice, breakfast cereal, pasta, and juice. Meanwhile the UFB Food Box program provides food to people with disabilities and seniors who are living in poverty and delivers the box to the clients home. The box contains a week’s worth of non-perishable food, including as much fresh food as possible.

There’ll be one event on Thanksgiving morning where you can sign up to run a 10k for 30 dollars. The race will start at 8:00 and will be in Vista Station Business Park in Draper (12921 Vista Station Blvd.)