NATOMAS, Sacramento — The cafeterias are closed, but from Monday to Friday, the hard-working men and women from the Natomas Unified Nutritional Service Department are making sure thousands of families get a nutritious meal.
Since March 13, Vince Caguin and his team over at the nutritional department have stepped up production to provide healthy food to the community.
"We just crossed our 50,000 meal mark, and that is a 700% increase since we started," Caguin said. “We are seeing families come through with tears. Food is the only normal thing for them at this moment."
Around 23 food handlers start their day every morning at 6:30 to prepare the 4,000 meals that are distributed throughout Natomas.
Getting enough food to feed the community on a daily basis has been a challenge. So, Vince turned to local farmers and producers to get the food supplies he needs.
"We are buying directly from one of our farmers, Fiery Ginger Farms, and a lot of our partners stepped up — the Sacramento Kings donated produce to us," Caguin said.
Not only does the nutritional service staff prepare the food, they also deliver it to 15 different locations in Natomas.
"It's one of the ways that we get to show people in the community that we care about them," Caguin said. "It's a service we provide for the community. It's not for any specific income. There is no paperwork involved."
The workers at Natomas Unified Nutritional Service department were nominated as an Everyday Hero by "Tiger Talk" Inderkum School News team.
A special thanks to anchor Adoreil Ayoubgoulan for recording the interview with Vince Caguin. The Sacramento Educational Cable Consortium also provided video for this story.
If you want to nominate an everyday hero, email John Bartell or follow him on Facebook.
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