November 8, 2025 - FRESNO, Calif. – When Melissa Escobar walks to West Fresno Middle School to pick up two of her children, she knows that once a month, they’ll come home with something that eases the weight of worry: a box of food.
Because transportation is limited and grocery trips happen only once a month, Escobar and her family rely on a food distribution program hosted at the school.
On distribution day, rows of cars line the parking lot as volunteers pass out boxes of food from the Central California Food Bank.
“If it were somewhere else, I wouldn’t be able to go,” Escobar said.
The program is the result of a partnership between the food bank and Valley Children’s Healthcare.
“Part of Valley Children’s mission is to continually improve the health and well-being of children,” said Dr. Carmela Sosa, medical director of the Guilds Center for Community Health at Valley Children’s. “That means improving the lives of children out in the community where they live, where they learn and where they play.”
The collaboration began in 2022 and includes multiple components, with school-based food distribution as a cornerstone.
“They don’t have to go wait in line somewhere else and spend all their time tracking down services,” said Kym Dildine, co-CEO of the Central California Food Bank. “We’re going to them at their school site and ensuring that when they need it, they have the right food at the right time.”
The loading dock at the Central California Food Bank is consistently busy, says Dildine, with up to 14 semi-trucks hauling food coming in and out of the facility every day.
She says the organization feeds more than 320,000 people every month through roughly 260 partner organizations. Their work, which covers Fresno, Madera, Merced, Kings and Kern counties, also helps to feed 100,000 kids each month.
“One in three kids in our community struggles with proper access to healthy, nutritious food that they need to thrive,” Dildine said.
The stakes are high. Beyond the immediate effects of hunger, prolonged food insecurity can shape a child’s future health.
“That can lead to chronic stress, and we know that chronic stress is related to chronic health issues in adulthood,” said Dr. Sosa.
For families like Escobar’s, these boxes mean more than they appear; they represent a sense of stability.
“Everyone’s always very grateful and very happy,” said Christine Lane, assistant director of nutrition services at the district.
“We’re such a small community, so to have these big companies coming out and being part of our community – it’s really exciting to see that, and it means a lot to our community.”
Source: Valley Children's Healthcare, Madera, CA.
