The Universal Church of Baba's Kitchen (UCBK)

Will you help our local school kids get stress-free lunches?

THE STORY: 

- Lunch debt has become a 'nationwide epidemic' in our schools

- More than 12 million children in the US are in 'food insecure' families - a polite way to  say they can't afford to eat!  

- School lunches are often the only square meal that many impoverished children will receive

- 76% of school districts throughout the U.S. report having unpaid meal debt by students, up from 70 percent four years ago.

- Two local schools in our West LA neighborhood (mostly low-income, minority kids) are in need of stress-free, debt-free lunches 

- Brad Keimach and I have teamed up to  raise enough to pay for Brockton Elementary & University High Schools' students, so that there is no lunch debt concern for school year 2018-2019

And that’s where you come in!

(There’s no way we could do this alone.) 

Will funding lunches for these kids change the world?  We can’t say.  But it will certainly change the world for each kid that gets to eat, and their family, to be free from the added pressure and shame of not being able to afford a basic need for the kids: daily lunch. 

Will you help us help our local kids eat healthy, nourishing lunches this year? 

THE NUMBERS:
The school principals have given us these numbers:

Brockton Elementary School’s lunch budget is $20,000 

University High School’s budget is approximately $10,000 

In each school, were these balances paid, every child can eat a full meal every day and their families will not have to stress about how to pay for food, or about outstanding lunch debt by the end of the school year. 

100% OF FUNDS GOES TO LUNCHES & THAT'S IT
The great thing about this fundraiser is that 100% of the money raised goes to the lunches! the schools involved have happily made this commitment.  

So whatever you give will go directly to help kids eat - a fundamental need fufilled, and a generation of young students better equipped to get the most out of their education this year. 

  

DONATE, SHARE, SUPPORT

Please, please, join us in our mission to keep our local kids healthy and happy this school year. Every amount helps us get nearer our goal of $30,000 to cover two schools’ low-income student populations. 

If you can’t donate funds directly, at least commit to share this campaign and enlist the help of friends who maybe CAN donate (and share)….?  

And thank you, thank you, thank you, on behalf of our local kids here in Los Angeles.  

There are not enough hugs of gratitude for all of you!

HOW THIS CAME ABOUT:

Last spring, there was a news story from Rhode Island, about “Lunch Shaming” in schools — kids with  outstanding lunch debt were given peanut butter and jelly sandwiches instead of a full hot meal.  The CEO of Chobani Yogurt company read this news, and paid the majority of lunch debt for the whole school district, so that all the kids could eat a healthy lunch without fear of debt or lunch shaming. 

Our kids need to eat! No one can learn when their tummies are rumbling with hunger, or when their young bodies are improperly nourished. 

If our low-income kids aren’t guaranteed at least one good meal a day, through their school lunches… then what?  

You can imagine the catastrophic, cumulative effects of malnutrition added to the stress of poverty on these kids (and their families). How can they learn effectively, and play freely at recess, without proper nutrition? 

Paid last year...

Last year, inspired by the Chobani intervention and a hefty tax refund, my mate Brad decided to find out about the low-income schools in our neighborhood and see what the lunch debt situation might be. On his neighborhood walks, he frequently passes by two schools (Brockton Elementary and University High School). 

So he called to find out if there is unpaid lunch debt with the kids in these schools. Turns out, of course, YES!  

The principal at Brockton told him, not only “Yes, our kids are facing unpaid lunch debt,” but also “It is a national epidemic!”   

Both schools (Brockton and University High) are Title 1 schools, which means they have a very large percentage of economically challenged families.  Some of those families are terrified of applying for lunch assistance, because of the brutality of ICE.  They don't want to put their family at risk by raising their profile with the government by applying for assistance, as immigrants.

Sooooo……after some discussion and joining forces here at home with UCBK, the non-profit that I administrate (with a chartered directive to feed those who are in need), the unpaid balance for lunch debts in these two schools got paid off, last year, in a kind-hearted, anonymous fashion. 

This year, we’ve decided to get bolder:  

We’ve decided to try and raise enough funds so that in our neighborhood, the kids are well-fed and able to learn and grow properly.  Both schools’ student populations are predominantly children of color.  (A white person himself, my mate Brad feels it is an exercise of his well-intentioned "White Privilege" to be able to help these kids.)

We hope  you'll be inspired by this example and join forces with us, here in LA, to help the kids in these two schools. 

LUNCH DEBT IN RECENT NEWS:

From Ohio:

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/460738-ohio-school-took-hot-lunch-from-9-year-old-on-his-birthday-due 

From North Carolina:

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article235148312.html 

From New Jersey: 
https://www.montclairlocal.news/2019/09/20/lunch-debt-montclair-schools-nj/ 



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For GoFundMe general disclaimer/explanation purposes....  UCBK, The Universal Church of Baba's Kitchen, the non-profit spiritual and charitable organization that I administrate (as President of the board), is raising this money on behalf of the low-income kids needing lunch in our two local schools, Brockton Elementary and University High School. 

We have a large email and donor base, so it makes sense for us to get the word out, collect the funds, and give them to the two schools as soon as we have them available.   

Coronavirus has reached disastrous proportions in Nepal - a total health crisis is spiraling out of control.

Will you help UCBK (Universal Church Of Baba's Kitchen) aid our friends in Sindhupalchowk, Nepal?

Sometimes it seems when we read the news from regions afflicted by out-of-control COVID19 that the crises are so dire and overwhelming that there is nothing we can do to help.

Instead of succumbing to complete overwhelm in the face of surging cases, overflowing hospitals, oxygen supply lack, and other disastrous circumstances, our friends at the Infinite Ability Centre in Nepal are scrambling to help their community in Sindhupalchowk. Their dedication is inspiring!

Infinite Ability Centre's Covid Relief Team on the ground:

Infinite Ability Centre is a non-profit service organization founded by a group of highly motivated college-age social workers and volunteers who help the marginalized, overlooked, and often neglected disabled people in their area of Nepal live successful, productive lives with proper opportunities and support.

IAC already has a framework and track record of helping those in need, and its director Amrit Tiwari wants to mobilize their capacity to help in a wider way now that COVID has hit Nepal, and hit hard.

IAC has formed a Covid Relief Team, bringing food, and medicine to the people of Sindhupalchowk -- but they want to do much more: bringing oxygen, ventilators, and creating a 5 - 10 bed isolation ward with all the necessary medical equipment, where those suffering with serious COVID19 cases can have a chance to survive it.

And that's where you come in!

We can help this Covid Relief Team bring the much-needed supplies, and create that isolation ward!

Your donations can make an enormous difference in the lives of people in Sindhupalchowk -- literally life or death, in many cases -- and rapidly.

Will you help us help our Nepali friends in this time of intense need?

THE COVID WAVE IN NEPAL & Sindhupalchok's disaster history

Nepal is facing a deadly Covid wave similar to their neighboring country, India. 

Amrit, the IAC director told me, "The situation here is getting out of control as cases spike and hospitals run short of beds and oxygen. We have been on lockdown for 2 weeks already. The lockdown is killing the poor and marginalised. Poor families are on the verge of starvation. This lockdown will lengthen up to 3 months or more for sure."

The Sindhupalchok district has been hit hard already by the frequent natural disasters such as a landslide (2014), horrific earthquake (2015), and two floods (2016, 2020) plus many others, resulting in the loss of thousands of houses and human lives.

In addition to mass casualties, these disasters created immense loss of livelihood and psychosocial trauma to the Nepalese people. Low-income families, marginalized communities, and disabled people were already slammed by the natural disasters have been directly affected by the disaster -- and now COVID19 is spreading like wildfire, claiming many lives and rising.

The disaster, according to Nepalese authorities, is worse than India's situation!

“The basic requirements for the hospitals, the basic requirements for the health workers, cannot be addressed right now within the country,” said Samir Adhikari, joint spokesperson of the Ministry of Health and Population. Describing Nepal’s health system as “paralyzed,” he said “right now, health authorities are helpless.”

You can read more about the health and humanitarian crisis in Nepal here: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/a-pandemic-surge-threatens-livelihoods-in-nepal

DONATE, SHARE, SUPPORT

Please, please, join us in our mission to help Amrit and his courageous team bring relief and healthcare to the suffering people in Sindhupalchok. Every amount helps us get nearer our goal of $10,000 to cover their immediate COVID relief needs, and will save lives on the ground.

If you can’t donate funds directly, at least commit to share this campaign and enlist the help of friends who maybe CAN donate (and share)….?

And thank you, thank you, thank you, from UCBK, on behalf of Amrit Tiwari, Manita Karki, Prasiddi Timalsina, Rashila Tiwari, and all of our friends in the IAC's Covid Relief Team.

There are not enough hugs of gratitude for all of you!

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For GoFundMe general disclaimer/explanation purposes.... UCBK, The Universal Church of Baba's Kitchen, the non-profit spiritual and charitable organization that I administrate (as President of the board), is raising this money on behalf of our friends in the Sindhupalchok district of Nepal.

We have a large email and donor base, so it makes sense for us to get the word out, collect the funds, and give them to the local relief team in Nepal as soon as we have them available.