Many recognize Patricia, or “Grandma Pat” as she’s known online, from her popular Instagram acconut @10secondswithgma. Although she enjoys putting smiles on the faces of her thousands of followers, she wanted to use her audience to tackle an important issue that she affected by when she was younger: access to healthy school lunches.
Patricia was born during the Great Depression. When she was in school, Grandma Pat received government-provided breakfasts that included a single graham cracker and a carton of milk — what would now be known as a or reduced lunch. She remembered that the kids who received that lunch, including herself, were made to feel different by being separate from the rest of the group.
Inspired by Seattle dad Jeff Lew’s campaign to end lunch debt in Washington, Patricia decided to raise money for Grant Elementary, a school with one of the highest school lunch debts in the Los Angeles area.
Patricia says, “I’m a firm believer in being the change that you want to see in the world.”
Watch the video above to learn more about how Grandma Pat is using the power of social media to give back to kids in her community.