The NBA gamer’s Rudy’s Kids Foundation works with Smith’s Food to eradicate food insecurity in a community where 86% of students live below the poverty line.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz Center Rudy Gobert visits Northwest Middle School to see the new pantry in Salt Lake City on Thursday, October 14, 2021. Rudy’s Kids Foundation, Smith’s Food, and the Salt Lake Education Foundation teamed up to open the pantry. In the back is James Yapias of the Salt Lake Education Foundation.
When Rudy Gobert towered over her at the Utah Jazz Center, Andrea Seminario, principal of Northwest Middle School, rattled off some stats about the student body at her school.
There are 655 students enrolled, about 70% Latinos, 20% Pacific Islanders or Blacks, about 33% studying English … and about 86% of the students at the school in the West Point area of Salt Lake City live below the poverty line, including about 30 homeless.
“I can’t tell you how often I go through the Commons [area] here at lunchtime and the kids say to me, ‘Mrs. Seminario, get me a second lunch or a snack, because they are still hungry, ”she explained on Thursday afternoon. “And I was really sad that we didn’t have a pantry.”
Has not. Past tense.
That’s why the 7-foot-1 Gobert was there, towering tall, both literally and figuratively.
The All-NBA Centre’s Rudy’s Kids Foundation has partnered with Smith’s Food & Drug and the Salt Lake Education Foundation to open a pantry / family center in the Northwest.
About 1,300 to 1,500 NMS students and family members live with food insecurity, according to a joint press release from the Rudy’s Kids Foundation and the Salt Lake Education Foundation.
The school’s pantry (located at 1730 W. 1700 North) officially opened on Thursday and is stocked with all kinds of groceries and grocery items such as canned food, baby food and wet wipes, diapers, loaves of bread and liters of milk, potato pails, sacks of flour, oat cans, grain boxes , fresh vegetables, paper towels, toilet paper, toiletries.
Gobert said his rationale for trying to help was simple.
“It always breaks my heart to see students and children worry about their next meal,” he said. “I was one of those kids many years ago.”
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz Center Rudy Gobert visits Northwest Middle School to see the new pantry and hand out backbacks in Salt Lake City on Thursday, October 14, 2021. Rudy’s Kids Foundation, Smith’s Food and the Salt Lake Education Foundation joined efforts to open the pantry.
He remembered “my mother going to a place like this a couple of times to have a few meals,” while noting how relatively happy he was that people were taking care of him and his family and all pretty much always had something to eat The table.
The Northwest Middle School pantry and family center, made possible by donations from Rudy’s Kids Foundation and Smith’s, will provide students and their families with access to emergency food and other community resources.
The press release said: “Research shows that students who fight hunger are unable to concentrate, have low attendance, and suffer from anxiety. These students fall behind academically, drop out before graduation, exhibit behavioral problems, and have substance abuse problems. Children need nutrients so they can grow, develop and focus on learning instead of thinking about where their next meal will come from. “
Countless representatives of the jazz organization attended the event, including general manager Justin Zanik and assistant trainer Alex Jensen.
After several speeches by representatives of the school, the district, the educational foundation and by Gobert himself, many students from the school’s Pacific Islands spoiled him with a dance performance, then he distributed around 250 bags with backpacks and school supplies to the students, often taking breaks with enthusiastic young people – and their equally enthusiastic family members – pose for photos.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz Center Rudy Gobert visits Northwest Middle School to see the new pantry and hand out backbacks in Salt Lake City on Thursday, October 14, 2021. Rudy’s Kids Foundation, Smith’s Food and the Salt Lake Education Foundation joined efforts to open the pantry.
He then left the main school building to view the sliding housing of the pantry and the family center, which will offer computers for use and COVID-19 tests, among other things. He searched the available articles, stopped to speak to a few students and their parents, took many more pictures, and conducted a few media interviews.
He told The Salt Lake Tribune that this project had been in the works for about a year, a natural continuation of his behind-the-scenes efforts to provide meals to thousands of children in the wake of Utah’s growing food insecurity due to the COVID-10 pandemic.
“It will benefit all the children, all the students who don’t know whether they have something to eat on the table,” said Gobert. “It touches me very much and I am glad that we can help.”
He added that he was thrilled to finally host another personal event and meet and talk to some of the people who would benefit from this program.
“It is always more effective when you are personally on site,” said Gobert. “During the pandemic, I was able to do a lot of things remotely. But to meet these children and watch them perform, hand over the bags to them myself … that is much more meaningful to me. I’m just blessed to be able to make a difference. “
Seminario said there was no doubt that he did just that.
“Access to a pantry and family center [here] is essential, ”she said.
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