President Robert S. Nelsen and his wife, Jody Nelsen, distribute meals to Sac State students as part of a partnership with the Sacramento Mayor's Office and Broderick Roadhouse restaurants. (Sacramento State/Student Affairs Communications) | Photo album

By Dixie Reid

A significant number of Sacramento State’s students experienced food insecurity, studies show, making it a problem well before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The crisis has only heightened the need for many of them and their families.

Enter the city of Sacramento and a local restaurateur.

On Thursday, April 30, Mayor Darrell Steinberg and Chris Jarosz, founder of the Broderick Roadhouse chain, helped deliver the first of 6,000 packaged meals that will be given to students through Saturday, May 23.

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg has a quick word after distributing meals to a student at the University on Thursday, April 30, 2020. (Sacramento State/Student Affairs Communications)

Student Affairs will notify students of the days and times of future meal distribution.

University President Robert S. Nelsen joined Steinberg and campus volunteers — all practicing current safety measures — on campus near the residence halls to distribute approximately 500 meals in quart-size soup containers. Each container holds two to three meals.

Students either drove by or walked to the site and showed their OneCard to receive food.

“One of the most heartbreaking elements of the COVID-19 crisis is the increased stress and uncertainty that our housing-insecure and homeless students are experiencing,” Nelsen said before the program rollout. “Disruption is stressful even under the best situations.

“Imagine what it’s like to be hungry and unsure where your next meal will come from while trying to learn on Zoom,” Nelsen said, referring to the widely used video interface.

Nelsen said he is “immensely grateful” to Steinberg and Jarosz for “providing meals to hungry students at Sacramento State.”

The Broderick Roadhouse team is preparing the meals in a West Sacramento commercial kitchen. On the first week’s menu were vegan chili, macaroni and cheese, barbecue chicken, and beef and vegetables. Future menus will vary, depending on what’s available to the chefs.

Ingredients and meal preparation are being financed by a $20,000 grant from the city’s Justice for Neighbors program, which collects fines from owners of nuisance properties.

“I hope this (food distribution) helps our students focus on their education without having to worry about where their next meal is coming from,” Steinberg said.

Raley’s provided a refrigerated truck for the opening round of the meal delivery and distribution. Subsequently, Paratransit drivers will transport the bulk of the packaged food from West Sacramento to the Servery at the Dining Commons, which has large refrigerated storage facilities.

Each week, 50 one-quart containers also will go to the ASI Food Pantry in the University Union, where they can be picked up by students. Temporary hours for the Food Pantry are 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesdays and 1-4 p.m. Wednesdays, set after the campus closed in mid-March and student usage began to decline.

The Union is closed, but students can access the pantry from its dedicated entrance off the brick walkway adjacent to Santa Clara Hall.

“We will give each student the number of meals for their household size,” said Elizabeth Villalobos, ASI Food Pantry coordinator. “By doing this, we will help to support not only the student directly but the family that they’re supporting, while we are successfully distributing the meals so that there is no waste.”

The partnership between Sac State and the city to feed hungry students came about after Julia Burrows, Steinberg’s senior policy advisor, met with Danielle Muñoz, CARES Office case manager, to consider how to help 3,000 housing-insecure Sacramento State students.

During their conversation, Muñoz mentioned that 300 students who had never before visited the CARES Office or the ASI Food Pantry were added to a list of people awaiting donations and resources. Additionally, undocumented students aren’t eligible for CARES Act payments and have no safety net, she said. Food is an overwhelming need for many.

“Students aren’t eating full, balanced meals because of the loss of income or reduced work, because food was the first resource to become lost,” Muñoz said. “Students have told us that they’re barely making it.”

The CARES Office remains open and operating virtually. Students who need case management or anyone who wants to refer a student for services can email cares@csus.edu.

Burrows successfully proposed the meals-for-students idea to Steinberg. An application for Justice for Neighbors funding was made, and City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood, who oversees the fund, approved it.

In recent weeks, Jarosz, from the Broderick Roadhouse, has served thousands of meals to the homeless and to seniors living in subsidized housing. He financed much of the effort himself, as a way keep his restaurant staff employed.

He was eager to feed Sac State students.

“There’s been nothing more rewarding in my restaurant career than this,” Jarosz said. “It’s nice to get a good review from a restaurant critic, but that really doesn’t mean anything. This is changing people’s lives.”