By Kevin Hendricks
Feed Rio Rancho Kids has fed roughly 12,000 children in nearly six years.
Founded by Karen Schafer and Kitty Perez, Feed Rio Rancho Kids is a nonprofit that prepares and distributes snack packs for schoolchildren in the City of Vision who are experiencing food scarcity.
The group’s motto is, “In Rio Rancho, no child should go to bed hungry.”
Schaefer, Perez and production manager Emily Seiler were among over a dozen volunteers who gathered at the Unitarian Universalist Westside Congregation—the organization’s home base—early on March 25 to assemble hundreds of snack packs.
“It makes me feel like life is worth living because I have this passion for living in a country where kids should not go to bed hungry,” Schaefer said. “It just makes me insane. That should not happen. So this is the little bit we are trying to do to fix that.”
Volunteers deliver snack packs to the schools on Fridays to provide food for needy students over the weekend. On the morning of March 25, the volunteers helped prepare the snack packs for delivery to students at Colinas del Norte Elementary School, Stapleton Elementary School, Lincoln Middle School and the Desert Programs of Rio Rancho Public Schools.
The organization has grown from helping 100 kids in 2019 to assisting over 300 monthly during this school year. Feed Rio Rancho Kids has received significant support, including time and money from Sandoval County Commissioners Katherine Bruch and Joshua Jones.
Schaefer and Perez said the organization spends between $1,200 and $1,500 monthly on food, with donations covering the costs. All donations go directly to food and supplies, with the church handling financial management. The organization also gets around 16,000 hours of volunteer time contributed annually.
“It just energizes me. It makes me feel so grateful to our community, to these people who are willing to give their time and money to help feed children in our community,” Perez said.
Funds for the snack packs, which include canned food, snacks, ramen noodles, and granola bars, are provided by private donors, PNM and discretionary fund distributions from Bruch and Jones, who have each given over $5,000. Bruch is sending another $5,000 of her discretionary funds to Feed Rio Rancho Kids.
From August to May, Feed Rio Rancho Kids supplies between 45 and 55 packets weekly during the school year. The Unitarian Universalist Westside Congregation provides space for food storage and packet assembly. Volunteers do all administration and assembly.
In addition to weekend snack packs, Feed Rio Rancho Kids provides some schools with new winter coats. During Thanksgiving and winter breaks, Feed Rio Rancho Kids helps supply all the fixings for holiday dinners.
To donate to or volunteer with Feed Rio Rancho Kids, visit uuwestside.org/index.php/feed-the-kids-rio-rancho.