The SBCUSD Board of Education and Superintendent Mauricio Arellano present the Pure Land Foundation with the October Outstanding Community Partner Award.
(Photo by Corina Borsuk and provided courtesy of SBCUSD)
Pure Land Foundation food distribution at Pacific High School in October 2023. (Photo provided courtesy of Pure Land Foundation)
Pure Land Foundation Recognized for Fighting Food Insecurity
SAN BERNARDINO, CA—On Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023, the San Bernardino City Unified School District (SBCUSD) Board of Education presented the Outstanding Community Partner Award to Pure Land Foundation for their remarkable efforts in distributing free food and vegetables to thousands of families in the San Bernardino and Highland communities through their Mobile Food Pantry.
Pure Land has been partnering with SBCUSD since it was founded in July 2018. Pure Land’s first Mobile Food Pantry was held at Lincoln Elementary School in December 2018. Since that time, Pure Land has served just under 50,000 families more than 2.4 million pounds of food at an estimated cost of $2.5 million.
“Through these numbers, you may think that we are a very large organization,” Pure Land CEO Michael Tsai said. “Well, the organization has about 15 people. We have no corporate sponsorship. We have no government funding. Every dime that comes to us is through personal donations, and every cent goes toward helping the families, especially the families based around the school district.”
By distributing free food and vegetables to deserving families at locations like Pacific and Arroyo Valley High Schools, Pure Land has provided not only sustenance but also a sense of dignity and empowerment. They have given these families the ability to feed themselves and nurture their loved ones, creating a ripple effect of stability and well-being within our community.
“Food insecurity is such a pressing issue for so many families, and it is an obstacle to success in school and life,” SBCUSD Superintendent Mauricio Arellano said. “It is impossible to measure the profound impact that Pure Land Foundation has had on our students, their families and our entire community by providing not just food, but good nutrition.”
But the Pure Land Foundation’s impact goes beyond simply distributing food. Their work extends to building strong partnerships with local farmers, businesses and volunteers. These collaborations have allowed them to maximize their reach and efficiency, ensuring that they can serve as many families as possible. Their commitment to forging these community connections is a testament to their belief in the power of collective action and the importance of working together towards a common goal.
“We have no facilities, believe it or not. When we have to move 30 metric tons of food every month, we borrow warehouses, and we had to borrow a warehouse from a kind business owner all the way out in Arcadia,” Tsai said. “So all of our food has to travel back and forth just to make sure that all the families out here receive the food that they need and they never go hungry.”
SBCUSD launched the Outstanding Community Partner Award in 2022 as a way to recognize the contributions of its many educational partners. The award is presented during select months to organizations that have worked with SBCUSD to make a positive impact for students and families.
