MILLCREEK, Utah — One of the largest school districts in the state is making a huge effort to battle food insecurity among its students.
The Granite Education Foundation works tirelessly to ensure no child goes hungry among the district's nearly 60,000 students across 83 schools. About half of these students qualify for free or reduced school lunch.
Remi Prince, programs and volunteer manager for the Granite Education Foundation, oversees extensive food distribution efforts that sent out 400,000 individual snack items last school year. "We have food kits that we send home on the weekends, and we also allow educators, social workers, and counselors to come here and pick up snacks for their classrooms," Prince said.
Prince understands that a hungry student can't learn effectively. He's worked with students who don't have enough to eat on weekends when school cafeterias are closed, and he's changed their outcomes.
"The social worker is able on Friday to say, 'hey, we're going to send you home with a food kit so you are not, not eating for 36 hours over the weekend,'" Prince said.
Scenes of volunteers working throughout the morning are common inside the Granite Education Foundation. These dedicated individuals help organize and distribute food to meet the needs of students across the district. "The most rewarding part of my job is being able to speak with social workers, speak with counselors, and hear the stories of how our programs impact students," Prince said.
Prince is being recognized as the Smith's Zero Hunger Hero for January. He received a $1,000 donation from Smith's to support the foundation's food pantry operations.
Tina Murray from Smith's praised Prince's leadership and talents, especially his work creating a sustainable way to run a food pantry for such a large district. "This is going to be huge," Prince said upon receiving the donation.
The Granite Education Foundation is always looking for donations and volunteers to support their mission of fighting food insecurity among students. You can learn more about donation and volunteer opportunities here Granite Education Foundation Home Page, Donations, and Kit Building
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.