San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools distributes Thanksgiving food to families

San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools (SBCSS) Employee Connection and the Children Deserve Success Homeless Education Program each provided food to families in the community during two separate events ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

“One in five children in San Bernardino County live in households experiencing food insecurity,” said County Superintendent Ted Alejandre. “These annual food drives provide an opportunity to alleviate that stress and bring joy to these families for the holiday. Every single year the awesome staff at SBCSS dedicate themselves to making these events successful, and I couldn’t be prouder.”

Employee Connection is a not-for-profit staff organization that plans events promoting positive relationships between staff members and between staff and the community. 

For more than 20 years, SBCSS Employee Connection has held an annual Thanksgiving Food Drive. The Student Services branch compiles a list of families requesting Thanksgiving food and SBCSS Employee Connection collects donations from staff throughout the organization to build a meal box for those families.

This year, Employee Connection raised the funds necessary to build 400 boxes for families in need. San Bernardino County Department of Public Health partnered with Employee Connection and provided informational brochures about COVID-19 and personal protective equipment to include along with the food items.

In addition to SBCSS Employee Connection’s annual initiative, the Homeless Education Program has also coordinated a Thanksgiving food giveaway event to assist families in transition since 2007.

Staff from local shelters identified eligible families with children and picked up the donations on the families’ behalf on Nov. 22.

The Homeless Education Program partnered with SBCSS Employee Connection, Highland Congregational Church and Immanuel Baptist Church to collect Thanksgiving food and dozens of turkeys for families. The Home Depot also provided a $1,000 gift card to support both the Thanksgiving giveaway and the upcoming holiday celebration event on December 10.