Sunnyslope weekly food pantry opens for school’s families

Sunnyslope Elementary School’s new weekly food pantry is officially open for business. 

Sunnyslope held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Food Pantry that acts as a satellite location in a partnership with the Food Bank of San Benito County. Funding for the pantry site came from the Community Schools Grant through the State of California.

On March 14, Sunnyslope Principal Joe Rivas was outside the pantry site on campus informing parents and students of the opportunity as they passed by following the end of the school day when the site held the ribbon cutting. That came after two Fridays with a soft opening to “get the rhythm of it” before the official grand opening, he said. 

The pantry is open going forward at 2:30pm Fridays immediately after school. 

“It’s open to everybody, anybody at the school,” Rivas said. “It’s not for just kids. It’s for the whole family. They take food home for the weekend if needed.” 

Rivas said the school had never done anything like this pantry before. He credited Marlen Tinajero, the Community Schools site lead, for organizing the program. 

He said while no information is needed from participating families, Tinajero tracks the number of families coming through to provide that information to the food bank organization. 

“All we do is take a headcount,” Rivas said. 

The pantry room is set up like a small store where families can walk through and pick items they want to take home. 

Last week was the first time the school started informing all families at the site about the pantry through Parentsquare and flyers. 

Tinajero said it’s a very exciting project for staff because “so many people in our community need the help.” She said it also builds a sense of community with families. 

“They just come in here with no judgment or anything,” she said.