Foster Farms feeds minds and bodies by rewarding school kids with groceries

School kids have brought home more than 260,000 pounds of groceries in the second year of a program underwritten by Foster Farms.

The Livingston-based poultry company provided the goods to 825 students through its Food 4 Thought program. It rewards students for taking part in after-school activities at nine elementary campuses in Stanislaus and Merced counties.

Foster Farms plans to continue the program come fall. It started in the 2009-10 school year with about 500 students at four campuses.

The students each get 15 to 18 pounds of groceries twice a month. In exchange, they have to complete at least eight hours of tutoring, sports and other supervised activities per week.

The groceries come from the Merced County Food Bank and the Second Harvest Food Bank of San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties. The schools were chosen in part because they have many low-income students.

"Food 4 Thought has been a great success with our students and their families, impacting both their school and home lives," said George Solis, principal of Campus Park School in Livingston, in a news release.

It and the other three Merced County schools -- Schendel and El Capitan in Delhi and Sparkes in Winton -- will get their final deliveries for this year around the end of May.

Friday was the last delivery for the Stanislaus County schools -- Empire, Wright, Eisenhut, Chrysler and Baptist.

Foster Farms reported the results of a survey of some of the children's parents:

93 percent said Food 4 Thought significantly helped their grocery budget, up from 70 percent the previous year.

89 percent said their children's grades improved as a result of participating, up from 82 percent.

90 percent said the program improved their children's personal life.

Foster Farms modeled the effort on a San Joaquin County program that has grown to 3,300 students at 42 schools over 15 years.

"As California continues to lag behind the rest of the nation in economic recovery, Foster Farms believes it is important to help those in our community with great needs," said Ira Brill, director of marketing and advertising services for the company and a Second Harvest board member.