Sandra and Carlos Alvarado had five children and were also taking care of their 4-year-old niece.
Despite working hard on construction jobs, Carlos’ paycheck often was not enough to feed the entire family after paying rent and other bills. Sandra was taking care of their home and children, and constantly searched for resources to help make ends meet. She visited churches, donation centers, and other community service organizations to find additional items her family needed.Despite both of their tireless efforts, however, Sandra and Carlos constantly struggled to put enough food on their table, creating additional stress and health concerns for their entire family.
Kids’ Meals mission is to address those concerns.
Veronica, one of our meal delivery drivers, known as a “Hope Provider,” met Sandra at a community recruiting event and explained our services. She described how Kids’ Meals delivers healthy meals directly to the homes of children in need, as well as weekly bags of nutritious groceries and connections to wrap around service providers.You can imagine Sandra’s relief when she learned that Kids’ Meals not only provides meals to preschool-aged children in the home, but also serves the older siblings when schools are closed for summer and holidays. She signed up on the spot!
Little did Sandra know that she and her children would receive much more than healthy food deliveries…they formed a special relationship with Veronica that would last for years. One of Sandra’s sons, Diego, was three when Kids’ Meals began delivering daily lunches, and every day, he would wait for Veronica with a ball in his hand, knowing she would get out for a few minutes and play soccer with him!The money Kids’ Meals saves families like the Alvarado’s on food allows them to pay other bills and focus on breaking the poverty cycle.
With less stress in the home and a tummy full of nutritious food, children can focus on getting ahead as well. After eight years in the program, the Alvarado children are thriving! The eldest son graduated from high school, completed trade school, and is now a successful electrician.The second son, Carlos, recently graduated high school as a salutatorian and received a full scholarship to Johns Hopkins University where he will study to become a doctor.
From a young age, Carlos recognized the value of living a healthy life, helping others, and setting an example.
Now Diego, the young boy with the ball in his hand, plays soccer for his school and has sights on attending college just like his older brother, as do the younger children.
