Schools are the hubs of our communities and are a place where food assistance can have the greatest impact on the most vulnerable: children. One in five children in Florida struggles with hunger. By providing young children with greater access to healthy food in their schools—which is a convenient, familiar and supportive environment—MSP exposes children, who otherwise may be underserved in a more traditional food pantry setting, to nutritious foods at a young and impressionable age. We believe that creating these educational life experiences will position more children in South Florida to build positive nutritional habits that will benefit them across all other aspects of their lives as well. 

We offer our school pantry program at Title I elementary schools, which affords us the opportunity to directly reach the schools and communities who would most benefit from our support—Our current 12 schools participating in the program have high levels of participation in the Free and Reduced Price School Meals program. The focus of our program is ensuring that families have equal access to fresh fruits and vegetables. This is why at each school pantry distribution, we typically offer between 25 and 30 fresh fruits and vegetables, including up to 10 nonperishable bread and dairy products