At first, it was 50 backpacks of nonperishable food items sent home with students of McElwain Elementary School in Thornton, Colorado on Friday afternoons. During the 2024-25 school year, Food for Hope, a nonprofit based in the Denver suburb, distributed 21,160 bags of food to children and their families to fill the weekend hunger gap.

What began in 2014 as a simple food bag program for one school has grown into a three-pronged, community-driven effort to fight hunger — a challenge affecting one in eight residents and one in five children in Adams County, Colorado.

The most significant branch of the Food for Hope program is its 10 comprehensive food pantries, designed and reserved for Adams County students and their families. More than just nonperishable items, these food pantries offer high-quality, nutritious food options, including fresh produce, dairy, bread and meats.

“We like to encourage client choice whenever possible,” says Emily Stromquist, Food for Hope executive director. “We direct as many clients as possible to the pantries so that people can choose the items that are most meaningful and needed in their family.”

This setup allows families to accommodate their health needs, cultural preferences and allergies. It’s also essential for maintaining dignity, a key component of Food for Hope’s philosophy.

“Most families would prefer not to be at a food bank,” says Stromquist, “but we really believe that quality food with good nutrition lends itself to dignity, so there’s a dignity in having quality foods to choose from in these circumstances.”

Feedback from clients illustrates just how broad the spectrum of these circumstances can be. For some clients, it’s an unexpected job loss, for others, a towering medical bill. Recently, new immigration policies have resulted in situations where one parent is “suddenly gone,” says Stromquist, “and so then the other parent is left to have to support the family.” Regardless, Food for Hope is there to help.

This accessibility does not come without its challenges. Operations Director Reba Mackintosh often walks a tightrope, balancing cost and availability of food with nutrition and desirability. Recent tariffs and supply chain stressors have further complicated the balancing act. “We went a long time without eggs,” Mackintosh says.

Additionally, like any caregiver knows, cooking for little ones still developing their palates can be a tricky task. “We’re always trying to find that balance between what’s nutritional, what is healthy, but that kids are going to actually eat,” says Stromquist.

Pantries are not only well-stocked with an array of ingredients, but also friendly volunteers who build relationships with families and students, and are notorious for going above and beyond.

Photos by MacKennea Broyles

At one location, volunteers took it upon themselves to put together “pre-shopped” baskets of ingredients to make kid-friendly, nutritious meals when they noticed that many of their shoppers were the students themselves, often in charge of making dinner.

Other volunteers have shown up with items they purchased themselves en route to the pantry. Mackintosh tells the story of two student shoppers who frequently inquired about jalapenos. Although the pantry wasn’t able to stock them, a volunteer began regularly bringing them in to give to the students.

With students at the heart of its program, Food for Hope’s third arm — its snack distribution program called School Fuel — works to keep students fed and happy between meals by providing more than 4,000 nutritious and appealing classroom snacks each week to 17 Adams County schools.

For children and adolescents, snacks are not only desirable but necessary. Because of their small stomachs relative to their energy needs, snacks help to fill nutritional and energy gaps to keep students focused on learning and growing. Many classrooms incorporate snack time into their daily routine, but run into empty cupboards or empty pocketbooks.

“A lot of teachers spend their already limited income to supply snacks for kids that need it during the day,” says Mackintosh.

Food for Hope is more than just a food pantry and nutritional assistance for participating Adams County students and their families; it’s a system rooted in empowerment that fosters a sense of community. Recipients often aspire to return later as volunteers or bring along friends in need, even when they no longer need to shop.

For many, Food for Hope is just that — a beacon of hope, a helping hand and a reassuring support system during even the most challenging times.

“My family of six struggles to have enough money and food on the table for everything we need,” one client writes, “[Food for Hope] is so helpful not only with food, clothes and holidays, but they feel like family and are so ready to help, care and even talk with you about your struggles and needs. They make me feel welcome, loved and like I’m doing something right when everything else is going wrong.”

foodforhope.net

MacKennea Broyles
Writer