NSG Impact’s 2026 Food Supply Threatened as PBS SoCal Honors Founder Darious Harris as Local Hero

Never Stop Grinding Impact has spent years building a reliable lifeline for families who line up for its drive-up food and diaper distributions in Rialto. Now, founder and CEO Darious Harris says the food portion of that support is in jeopardy heading into 2026 — even as PBS SoCal recognizes him as a 2025 Local Hero.

“We’re actually at our greatest challenge now,” Harris said in a Dec. 30 phone call. “The monthly food and diaper distribution that we’ve been doing for the past three years, where we serve over 500 families monthly, is facing disruption as our partner for the program no longer has the funds to give us next year.”

Harris said a partner notified NSG Impact earlier this month that it may not be able to continue providing food, and he expects clarity in January. “They’re supposed to let us know in January if we’re going to be able to continue,” he said. “So we’re currently looking for other partners or food banks or somebody that can help us to keep it going.”

The uncertainty is already landing in his Instagram messages. “I just received an Instagram message from a community member right before this call, asking, ‘Hey, are you guys having a food distribution next month?’” Harris said. “And I don’t have the answers yet.”

In December, Harris said, Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County helped keep the distribution afloat when food supplies tightened. “They supported us last month and provided us with chickens to give out, as well as cereal boxes,” he said. “They saved the distribution for the month of December.”

The possible disruption comes during what Harris called the organization’s biggest funding year, one that included a Bank of America grant, participation in the IEHP Foundation’s Champions for Vibrant Health Leadership Network, and city-supported programming for Rialto youth.

As NSG Impact searches for new food partners, Harris is also stepping into a wider public spotlight after PBS SoCal named him a 2025 Local Heroes honoree. Harris said the award was presented Dec. 4 during a ceremony at PBS SoCal’s headquarters in Burbank and that a segment about him and NSG Impact is expected to begin airing in January.

“I didn’t even know that I was nominated,” Harris said. He credited the nomination to  Rialto Police Department Captain Lamont Quarker, saying Quarker told him the decision was rooted in personal experience.

“Lieutenant Quarker said that when he grew up as a kid, he always wanted to know the faces behind the people that were helping others, giving food, giving backpacks, because he was one of those kids in line,” Harris said. “So the work that I do impacts him because it reminds him of the young Lamont.”

For Harris, the recognition was unexpected and emotional. “When it all settled in, it just felt like such a blessing,” he said. “I never got into this type of work to receive big awards…but it definitely felt good.”

Harris also spoke to growing public skepticism toward nonprofits and the pressure organizations face to prove where money goes and what impact it creates.

“For us…everybody that knows NSG knows we’re out in the community consistently,” he said. “My advice to other nonprofits is to start highlighting your work. Let people see what you are accomplishing.”

He described NSG Impact’s pace as steady and visible. “Throughout the year, we’re doing at least two events a month. Every single month,” he said, pointing to major seasonal efforts. “We distributed 1,000 turkeys in November and we provided 4,000 toys to children this month,” he said.

Harris said he understands how optics can shape public trust, even when spending is legitimate. “What people don’t understand is, some of the funding is to pay your staff,” he said. Raises or bonuses, he added, can look suspicious from the outside even if they’re earned.

Looking ahead to 2026, Harris said NSG Impact plans to use its Bank of America grant to create internship opportunities and workforce development programming focused on job readiness and mentoring.

Harris said the goal is to help young people build basic job-readiness skills. “For young men and young women to know how to dress when they go on the job, talk when they go on a job interview,” he said. “Not everybody has a mother and father to teach them those things.”

He said the internship details are still being developed, but the intent is direct exposure to nonprofit operations. “They would definitely be able to work right under myself and the COO and they’ll be able to learn the insides and outs of running a nonprofit,” Harris said.

Harris said the organization is also trying to expand staffing beyond school-site employees so leadership can focus on grants and long-term stability. “That’s the biggest goal for 2026, to get more staff,” he said. 

NSG Impact is also running a free youth cohort at its gym funded through the City of Rialto’s Community Development Block Grant, or CDBG — a requirement that makes the program available only to Rialto residents, Harris said. The six-week cohort meets twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays and combines journaling and lesson plans with boxing drills and conditioning.

“When you walk in, you’re going to get a book…and it’s going to be something that you journal in everyday,” Harris said. “We’re focusing on self awareness and once we’re done with that, we are going to learn some boxing—shadow boxing, hit the bags, and ladder drills.”

Cohort 2 begins in February 2026, Harris said, and the program still has space for Rialto residents. Families can reach out by email at info@neverstopgrindingimpact.org or visit 898 W. Rialto Ave., Rialto, CA 92376, during the hours of 5 to 10 p.m., Monday through Friday. 

Asked what he considers his greatest accomplishment of 2025, Harris returned to daily work.

“My greatest accomplishment this year is being able to continue to help the people,” he said. “The fact that we’re still able to continue helping the people…I feel like that’s my greatest accomplishment this year.”