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Volume 63, Issue 3
Homestead High School 21370 Homestead Rd, Cupertino, CA 95014
December 11, 2025
FUHSD enacts new measures to alleviate food insecurity District offers free breakfast before school Amanda Boles and Maya Dutt
Photo by Maya Dutt
FUHSD hosted a Thanksgiving food drive amid SNAP uncertainty, offering 300 boxes with non-perishable items.
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Adapting to uncertainty surrounding state resumption of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, FUHSD hosted its first Thanksgiving food drive on Nov. 26 at FHS to support district families, district nutrition services manager Divya Puri said. During the event, 300 boxes containing fresh produce and dry packaged foods were offered on a first-come, first-served basis, Puri said. With over 10% of district students being categorized as socioeconomically disadvantaged, the food drive compensated for the absence of free school meals during break, superintendent Graham Clark said. “When you’re at school, you get two meals a day that could be free,” Clark said. “When you’re at home on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday [over break], then you don’t have the free meals anymore, so there’s actually a greater demand.” While the initiative was primarily district-funded, several vendors and community partners stepped in to offset the cost by providing a large portion of the food items, Puri said. “We have a lot of vendors we work with,” Puri said. “Because of SNAP being in the news so much, when we reached out, they automatically wanted to help and donate. People understand people are hurting, so it has not taken a lot of outreach to get donations.” With an influx of food, items that would stock the distribution boxes occupied cafeteria space usually reserved for student meals, Puri said. “We had to completely switch what we were doing for our school to have this meal drive because we wanted to make sure [products] could
go in the boxes without the boxes becoming mushy,” Puri said. “We don’t really pack anything in our cafeterias, so we never had to even think of those aspects.” At the distribution, around 150 of 300 prepared boxes were distributed due to small turnout, Puri said. Leftover boxes were given to Peninsula Food Runners, an organization that transfers leftovers to regional food banks, Puri said. Despite the low turnout at the food drive, Puri said she estimates the needs of struggling families exceed the support that the district can offer them, Puri said. “I know times are tough. We’re trying our best, but the need is just humongous out there,” Puri said. “It’s difficult for a smaller district to do all of that, so if the community, parents and students can rally up and do more food drives, December holidays would be easier for lots of families struggling with food insecurity.”
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Amanda Boles and Maya Dutt
All FUHSD schools began offering free grab-and-go breakfast bars starting before school starting Dec. 1, FUHSD announced in a districtwide email. Breakfast does not require an ID, so students can quickly get some nourishment before class from 8:20–8:30 a.m., nutrition services manager Divya Puri said. “[We’re] making sure our kids are not hungry and they are able to focus academically. That’s really the goal here,” Puri said. “We want to get them in and out fast because we know students are not on campus way before school starts.” The initiative gained traction after trustee Pat Carpio-Aguilar asked at the Nov. 4 board meeting if the district could offer additional meals in the mornings. “It was very inspiring to see [that] when you start talking about issues, people start listening, and we now have some breakfast items,” Carpio-Aguilar said. “I brought that up because I feel very deeply about how we are serving students. They should not have to go without food until 11:30.” Because the state only offers free brunch and lunch, the program was implemented by nutrition services and is district-funded, superintendent Graham Clark said. The initiative first began after administrators heard students were arriving to school hungry after not eating at home, Clark said. Since brunch is served late in the bell schedule, having an option to eat before then will greatly benefit the students who need it, principal Denae Nurnberg said. “I applaud the efforts of our district, and I’m really pleased with this move,” Nurnberg said. “I’m not sure how long it’ll last, but I appreciate what they’re doing right now.”
Infographic by Amanda Boles and Maya Dutt Photo by Maya Dutt
Resources for food insecurity
Students can pick up free breakfast bars in the cafeteria before their first period class, Puri said.
Hope’s Corner Free hot breakfast and bag lunches 748 Mercy, Mountain View. Open Monday, Wednesday, Friday Home deliveries for those unable to St Timothy’s Little Free Pantry travel 1160 Kern Ave, Sunnyvale. Open every Wednesday
Ecumenical Hunger Program Offers food boxes for pickup 2411 Pulgas Ave, East Palo Alto. Open Monday-Thursday
ASB reintroduces popular pre-pandemic canned food and resources drive Read the full story on page 2
Infographic by Ivy Guo and Chloe Wang
PAGE DESIGN BY ELINA LI AND AASHKA NAGARKAR