The Patachou Foundation

The Patachou Foundation feeds wholesome meals to food-insecure school children in our community and teaches them to create healthy habits. 

In an effort to increase health, reduce obesity, focus retention and learning, we employ a holistic approach to youth hunger. The Patachou Foundation offers a feeding program to serve high-quality, kid-friendly meals to kids living in areas of food insecurity and high poverty. These meals, served after school during the school year and during the day for summer sessions by an army of volunteers, offer a stark difference to the often pre-fabricated, cellophane-wrapped meals they receive from other federally-funded providers. Additionally, The Patachou Foundation offers an education program to increase youth's awareness of the food they are eating, nutrition, tastes and preferences in regards to eating habits and civility at the table. The Patachou Foundation currently operates in partnership with five local schools that are located in food deserts. Since its inception in 2013 The Patachou Foundation has served over 18,000 meals.

The Patachou Foundation's guiding principles include:

1) Being exceptional at what we do. This applies to every aspect of the foundation, from the quality of food we serve, how it is prepared, our programming, to our attitudes and our campaigns. 

2) Creating and maintaining a positive atmosphere where we serve, where individuality and diverseness is encouraged, where opinions and thoughts are listened to, and where each volunteer is valued and treated with kindness and respect.

3) Creating lasting relationships with each other and with those we serve; whether it be fellow Patachou volunteers, other community partners or volunteers, or especially those we volunteer for, so that even for the brief moments we share, we become part of their lives, and they become part of ours.

4) Providing service with a high level of warmth; recognizing that the limited time we have together is important, and that every moment matters.

5) Providing “real” food that is as high-quality as financially feasible. We serve food that is truly fresh. That means that we create relationships with suppliers and community partners that are mutually benefitting.

6) Creating an atmosphere of equality and respect, recognizing that those we serve are the reason we do what we do. Communities in their truest form rely on each other to build value together. We are helping to build those communities and in doing so, are becoming part of them as well. We seek not only to serve, but to create meaningful partnerships along the way.