Students Receive Food for Thought

It’s 3 p.m. and the students at Bradoaks Elementary in Monrovia are eyeing the fruit gummies in the cafeteria. They’re not going home without a treat.

“Can we have our snacks now?” asked second-grader Nicholas T. Pittman.

For many children, snack time is the highlight of their day -- a respite from the classwork, tutoring and playground fun.

For the adult supervisors, the food provided by the nearby Foothill Unity Center completes another valuable session of after-school work that they say improves students’ academic scores.

The center received $15,000 this year from the Los Angeles Times Holiday Campaign, which raises money for nonprofits in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties. The money will go toward munchies that will satisfy 500 students from six Monrovia Unified School District campuses in the after-school program for the year.

“Brains need food and energy,” said Susan Hirsch, coordinator of academic intervention and after-school programs for the school district. “The kids need to do their homework, and they’re hungry.”

Every Monday, the center delivers a new batch of snacks such as fruit and granola bars. While nutrition in public schools has been a hot-button issue in recent years, center organizers say they have long been mindful of what they feed students.

“A lot of kids think the snacks have a lot of sugar in them, but it’s actually very healthy too,” said Bradoaks student Michael Petite about the bear-shaped gummies.

In a cramped storage space in the rear of the center’s modest offices in Monrovia, boxes of Rice Krispies Treats, graham crackers and fruit drops are stacked high against a plaster wall waiting to be sent to a school.

Getting food into the mouths of those who need it the most is nothing new for the 10 staffers and 50 volunteers who maintain the center. The after-school program is just one of myriad roles the center plays, serving the cities of Sierra Madre, Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte and Bradbury.

Low-income residents arrive three days a week to gather necessities such as bread, milk, meat, vegetables and personal hygiene products. The center also counsels the jobless and finds winter jackets for children, some of whom are on the streets with their parents. This year, the center hopes to add one more surprise for the youngsters: teddy bears.

“People don’t realize how important these services are,” said Joan Whitenack, the center’s executive director. “Just because we’re in Southern California, they think we’re an affluent area.”

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HOW TO GIVE

The annual Holiday Campaign is part of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund, a fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, which this year will match the first $800,000 raised at 50 cents on the dollar. Donations (checks or money orders) supporting the Holiday Campaign should be sent to: L.A. Times Holiday Campaign, File 56986, Los Angeles, CA 90074-6986. Do not send cash. Credit card donations can be made on the Web site: latimes.com/holidaycampaign.

All donations are tax-deductible. Contributions of $50 or more may be published in The Times unless a donor requests otherwise; acknowledgment cannot be guaranteed. For information, call (800) LATIMES, Ext. 75771.