Kids' Food Basket

Join us in Feeding Our Future:A Campaign for Muskegon Children. Every child in Muskegon deserves the right to good food and a good future. Let’s get there together. In honor of KFB’s growth and program expansion, we welcome our West Michigan community to celebrate the collective impact that has been made over the past 20 years towards breaking down the barriers to healthy food access. A Touch of Love shares the passion, commitment and resilience behind this critical work. Thank you for being part of this journey from the first Sack Supper to now. Watch our transformative story! In 2002, Mary K. Hoodhood received a phone call that changed everything. A local school principal reached out and said that students were regularly going into the cafeteria after school in search of food to take home. Mary identified an immediate need. With $3,000 and a handful of volunteers, she committed to providing a solution to childhood hunger in our community. We began by providing 125 students at three schools in Kent County with nourishing evening meals in a brown bag, which we called Sack Suppers. Nearly 20 years later, thanks to the support of a diverse range of community partners, we have grown to now serve thousands of children and families in four counties throughout West Michigan every day. Championing sustainable, community-driven farming and working alongside our West Michigan neighbors, we look to break down barriers to food equity and help to solve systemic and complex causes of childhood hunger with dignified, long-term solutions. Healthy food is a right, not a privilege. Kids’ Food Basket is committed to ensuring that right is enjoyed by everyone in our community—not just today, but for generations to come. Working together, all of us can ensure that local students have access to healthy, life-affirming food to help them thrive and foster their limitless potential. Founded in 2002, KFB operates in shared spaces with three small gifts of $1,000 and a pool of community volunteers. KFB begins serving 125 meals to three schools in Grand Rapids. Due to the increasing need, Kids’ Food Basket expands to a rented space on Butterworth Street in Grand Rapids with room to serve more children and respond to community requests. By engaging hundreds of volunteers and creating the Kids Helping Kids program, thousands of children now have consistent access to good, nourishing Sack Suppers. During the height of the 2009 recession, KFB grows to serve 2,500 students a day by implementing LEAN Six Sigma practices. A 1,900% increase from 2002! To respond to a growing waiting list, KFB moves its headquarters to a rented space at 2055 Oak Industrial Drive. KFB receives national recognition by winning the Governor’s Service Award for Volunteer Program of the Year, and founder Mary K. Hoodhood receives the Citizens Medal from President Barack Obama. KFB launches the Muskegon County program to respond to the one in four children in Muskegon who are food insecure. KFB is now serving 1,200 kids and counting! To better respond to the 11,120 children in Ottawa and Allegan counties who live with food insecurity, KFB expands to Ottawa County. Each weekday this program serves over 950 students across six schools. As a result of a growing volunteer and donor community, KFB reaches the tremendous milestone of serving 1,000,000 healthy, nourishing meals in one school year in West Michigan. Grand opening of the chemical-free, sustainable 10-acre farm at KFB’s new Grand Rapids headquarters. Now, delicious kid-tested vegetables are grown right on site. A local farm lays the groundwork for a strong, sustainable future. Kids’ Food Basket expands to its 30,000-square-foot LEED-certified headquarters on 1300 Plymouth Avenue NE. It is complete with 10 acres of sustainable farmland, a greenhouse and a learning barn in Grand Rapids. KFB is currently serving over 8,800 children and families in four counties, with the capacity to serve up to 15,000 meals a day and d