Sponsor Spotlight: Mark Jacoby with Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows

Mark’s first experience with child nutrition programs was with the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) in the early 90s, and now has experience in SFSP, CACFP, and the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Before Mark was in his current position, most of the sites he worked with provided heat-and-serve meals, but when Mark became Vice President, his goal was to provide fresh cooked meals. Although the transition was difficult, Mark has been able to put a fantastic food service team in place, and they are now able to provide mostly scratch-cooked meals.

 

“When I first started in this position, I noticed during site visits that many kids were not eating their full meals, and a lot of food was being thrown away. I felt it was important to create a system that encouraged kids to enjoy the meals and eat most of what was served. We moved away from heat-and-serve items and began cooking more meals from scratch. We also replaced fruit cups with fresh fruit. One of the biggest changes was preparing fresh-cut fruit and offering seasonal options such as pears, berries, apples, and bananas.”

 

The Food Service Department at BGC Truckee Meadows includes 30 staff members and is led by Culinary Director Fabian Guerrero. Chef Fabian and his team create warm hot meals and fresh fruit for every meal. They also take feedback from the children and adjust their recipes based on what the kids enjoy. They provide foods like chili, four cheese mac and cheese, and pozole. They also have Taco Tuesdays where Chef Fabian provides different filling combinations each week and Pizza Thursdays using fresh Focaccia bread and fun new flavors each week.

These hot, fresh meals are served across 27 sites. BGC Truckee Meadows acts as the CACFP sponsor and vendor for 11 afterschool sites, all of which provide supper. They also vend and sponsor nine early learning and care sites and one child care facility, which are provided breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snack. In addition to the CACFP sites they serve, BGC Truckee Meadows also vends meals to eight charter schools that participate in the NSLP. BGC Truckee meadows are able to vend to all of these sites from their three commercial kitchens. The same meals are served to all site types, with slight adjustments to meet the requirements for each child nutrition program. BGC Truckee Meadows also has two different crews for CACFP and NSLP to ensure that program-specific requirements are being met and funds are allocated properly.

Together their team serves 2500 meals to 14,000 children each day.  Mark recognizes that the food program is a key part of the services of Boys & Girls Clubs, because many of the children who come to the clubs rely on them for nutritious foods. When children come to a Boys & Girls Club they are guaranteed an enriching program, healthy food, and a safe and positive environment.

 

“How I see the food program benefiting the children is that kids come to the club for enrichment programs and to have fun. Kids go to school to learn and be a sponge and grow and become productive citizens. If they’re hungry, it makes it very difficult to do any of that. If they don’t like the food, they become agitated or have behavioral issues. There are two things they know they’re going to get when they come to the club: they’re going to get a good breakfast, they’re going to get a good lunch and the rest is going to fall into place.”

 

Although the transition to scratch cooking wasn’t easy, BGC Truckee Meadows is still able to provide the meals (food and labor costs) within the CACFP reimbursement. Mark has also witnessed firsthand the positive outcomes resulting from serving fresh meals. There is less food waste and the children are  getting key nutrients into their bodies, thus are more engaged, participate more in activities, and have fewer behavioral issues.

As BGC Truckee Meadows celebrates its 50^th anniversary, Mark is passionate about continuing their great work providing hot meals to as many children as possible. They are also excited to have begun implementing a work readiness program for kids ages 15- to 24 years old, which includes a culinary component. BGC Truckee Meadows continues to grow their food service department and is expanding their food service to children in their area.