Wasilla, AK - A new, non-partisan, non-profit has launched here under the name Kids Kupboard. Lynette Ortolano, former Program Director of Food4Kids, will serve as Executive Director. We NEED your help!
In my experiences, I have worked in multi-mission programs that addressed senior, adult and child feeding programs as well as soup kitchens, food pantries and shelters. Because of the blending of programs and funds it became very clear that regulatory risks exist as it relates to fiscal controls necessary to manage, obligate and report the legal and ethical use of funding and assets. Additionally, and most important to me, donor intent assurances of a mixed mission organization are not guaranteed and create confusion and concern within the community. Individuals, families, corporations and funders want to be assured that their donations are restricted to a specific segment of services. Fulfilling donor intent is central to Kids Kupboards’ mission to make healthy meals available to children struggling with food insecurity in our community. We are genuinely interested in solving the challenges caused by food insecurity in children, and we will never compromise our ethics or integrity. Alaska has never had a single mission; stand-alone nonprofit committed solely to combating childhood hunger. We do now! Kids Kupboard staff, board members and hundreds of amazing volunteers have been and will continue to be devoted solely to making healthy meals available to children in our communities who have been identified as “at-risk” of not having enough to eat. Kids Kupboard will be supported almost entirely by philanthropy and will provide the meals it produces, free of charge, through onsite feeding at established community centers, through our mobile feeding programs at parks and playgrounds as well as our delivery of meals to more than 17 safe community site partners (libraries, afterschool programs, fire stations, etc.). There are hungry children in our own backyards. And we all have the power to feed them. Kids Kupboard is a true non-profit organization that’s dedicated to feeding hungry children in the valley. We drive real change every day and that’s something we want the community to know and we want the community to engage with us as we do it! You can help us end childhood hunger in our community and give our children here in the MatSu a chance at a real future. We would love to visit with you on the phone, via email or in person to talk about how you can help us make sure no child goes hungry!
Gratefully,
Lynette Ortolano, Executive Director
