San Diego City Wire

A new Boys & Girls Clubs of Oceanside food truck, primarily funded through the County’s K-12 Community Grant Program, is complete and will soon be used in the community. Club officials displayed the new truck and menu at a community barbecue on June 1 in Oceanside. The truck, called the Lunch Box, will soon be on the streets providing fresh, healthy, and free meals to children in the clubs’ surrounding neighborhoods.

The truck is part of the club’s Culinary Options and Opportunities for Kids program which offers culinary and job readiness skills to youth aged 14 to 18. Ultimately, they can apply for paid internships to help prepare the meals for children at the club or for catering on the Lunch Box truck.

The grant also helped to fund the Boys & Girls Clubs of Oceanside Youth CanTEEN Food Truck Mentorship program and a summer feeding program that prepared meals for over 600 children. The goal of the CanTEEN program was to provide skills and mentorship connections at-risk teens need to gain confidence necessary to become active members in the San Diego restaurant community. By the end of this year-long program, a total of 55 youth participated in its culinary arts mentorship program. Youth participating in the program experienced improvement in academics, work readiness, and community connections.

The County of San Diego and the San Diego District Attorney’s Office awarded grant money as part of the K-12 Community Grant program. This opportunity was made possible by fines imposed by the court related to one of the nation’s largest fraud schemes targeting state dollars intended for K-12 education. Additional funding and collaboration came from the City of Oceanside, Parker Foundation, First Citizens Bank, and Buffalo Wild Wings Foundation.

“Because of their commitment to the program, we can address food insecurity while investing in the future of young people by providing them with workforce readiness and on-the-job experiences,” said Jodi Diamond, CEO of Boys & Girls Club of Oceanside.