Today we’d like to introduce you to Diane Breedlove.
Hi Diane, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
School Fuel, a 501(c)(3) organization began in the spring of 2013 providing 31 hungry children in one elementary school in the San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District with a sack of nutritious food each weekend. Not surprisingly, these children were much better prepared to learn on Monday morning when they had food support on the weekend so by fall funds had been raised to support more than 200 hungry children with a weekend sack of food. Since that time School Fuel has continued to grow so that this year as many as 1,400 hungry children, grades K-12, in 11 schools received a nutritious sack of food each weekend of the school year.
School Fuel is an all-volunteer organization housed in a facility provided by the San Marcos CISD specifically for our use. Each year more than a thousand volunteers show up to pack the sacks or handle all the other activities required to support hungry children with food for the weekend.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
God has blessed School Fuel all along the way! During COVID we continued to provide for hungry children using fewer individuals to pack in a safe way and delivering food in various ways but there was a way. And there have been other challenges such has having an acceptable facility in which to store and pack the food but those obstacles didn’t prevent the program from growing.
Last year because of a serious budget deficit, the school district eliminated the parent liaison position in all seven elementary schools. The parent liaison was the individual who coordinated the School Fuel program on campus so getting someone already working at the school to take up the responsibility was challenging because the parent liaisons had a good relationship with the families of School Fuel participants and with teachers and with our representative but we have managed to continue to serve hungry children in every school in the District (except for the Pre-K which has its own program).
Another challenge has been raising funds as we’ve grown. It costs only about $240 per student per year but as we grew from several hundred to more than a thousand, so did the challenge of raising funds. We continue to seek grants from foundations whose mission is serving children as well as from the City of San Marcos.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a retired firefighter/fire chief who is also a retired CPA but I am not the story.
School Fuel began as a mission of a Sunday School Class at First Baptist Church San Marcos. Aurelia Newton was active at Mendez Elementary and saw the results of poverty on children. She organized the class to pack weekend food for 31 homeless children each week. The results were so overwhelmingly positive that the class raised money to support more than 200 hungry students in that school by fall. The program was at first supported entirely by members of the FBC but plans were undertaken to incorporate as a 501(c)(3) organization and it was recognized by the IRS in 2014 as a non-profit.
A board of directors including members of other churches was elected and the organization began to grow. There have been three presidents, Aurelia Newton, Jenny Mangrum and the current president, Michael Pigg. The Board has been responsible for handling every aspect of the organization or directing volunteers. That School Fuel has grown to serve 1,400 hungry children with a current budget of about $375,000 with only volunteers is the real story here. Presidents Newton, Mangrum and Pigg have worked thousands of hours to achieve this milestone so they and the other board members and volunteers are the real story.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Again, I am not the story. If you need a personal story we can ask Michael Pigg, the School Fuel Board President for his as he devotes many, many hours to the program.
Pricing:
- It costs about $240/year to provide a sack of food each weekend of the school year.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.schoolfuelsanmarcos.org
- Instagram: @SchoolFuelSMTX
- Facebook: /SchoolFuelSanMarcos
- Twitter: @SchoolFuelSMTX
