KC Food Pantry helps KCUSD families fighting food insecurity in Orange Cove

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Kings Canyon Unified School District is helping fight food insecurity.

The "KC Cares Pantry" is open five days a week to provide support.

Students volunteer to stack, sort and pile food into the KC Cares Food Pantry.

All of them are part of an independent study at Mountain View School in the Kings Canyon Unified School District.

As monthly shipments come in, they organize and put them away for district families in need.

Senior Jasmine Zepeda says she decided to volunteer because she and her family faced food insecurity in the past.

"Seeing everyone can get the food, get all the resources they need help with it makes me feel happy and proud of myself for doing this," Zepeda said.

The food pantry is housed at the Community Learning Center in Orange Cove.

District Social Worker Sebastian Villasenor says the resource was created out of a need in the district.

"A lot of families really have been struggling with this need for many, many, many years, in silence," Villasenor said.

If a family needs to visit the pantry, a private appointment is created for them to shop.

Families get to pick which items they want, including eggs, fresh fruit, or frozen chicken.

Villasenor says that by having the resource available in the district, they don't have to wonder if families received help from outside resources.

"When families talked about a need with food insecurity, it could be several weeks before the next food delivery and then we never knew if the family made it to that appointment or to that scheduled time to pick up some items," Villasenor said.

He hopes this gives students valuable work experience and helps to relieve parents trying to feed their families.

"The biggest thing we're looking to see is that that stress is reduced so that the home life is a little bit healthier. It's a little bit more balanced and not so hectic at times trying to make ends meet," Villasenor said.

Social workers are keeping track of any families who may need ongoing support. They share a compiled list of community resources for those who may need more help.

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