Santa Barbara Schools Launch Pantries to Fill Gap Left by SNAP Cuts

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) - The new food pantries are filling up fast at Hope School in Santa Barbara.

Since Calfresh was cut, Paraeducator Jessica Armstrong saw several students’ families struggling to reach local food banks.

“Some families don’t have cars … they live close by they’re part of our community … so I just wanted to make it as easy as possible," said Armstrong.

So she took action—launching pantries at every campus in the Hope Elementary School District.

“I decided I thought it would be a better idea to bring the food here instead i’ve tried to get a hold of families to maybe give them rides and have it be a shameful type of situation that we could just create a fruit bank on campus," said Armstrong.

Students are stepping up too, stocking shelves with community donations.

“I took the lead of other people at our school who helped initiate the food pantry and so I decided to tell my class about it and courage kids to bring it in if they could," said educator and parent Kimberly Marme of Hope School.

“ I would like to put food in there so they can donate it to families. We can have more food to feed their children," said student Kamila Marme of Hope School.

District leaders report one in three students comes from a family in need, qualifying for free or reduced-price meals.

Staff members plan to continue this pantry as long as there is a need.

"It’s open on the weekend if people felt like you didn’t wanna walk by people and stuff," said Armstrong.

"My hope is that nobody’s hungry and everyone can be in school and learn what they need to learn and not be worried about the next meal," said Kimberly Marme.

As CalFresh cuts continue to challenge families, these school pantries are keeping hunger at bay—and hope alive.