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A Prior Lake nonprofit provides weekend meals for kids and families facing hunger at home.
When Prior Lake mom Keri Thayer recognized a need at her kids’ elementary school, she didn’t hesitate to jump in and fill it. The nonprofit she co-founded, Reaching Our Community’s Kids (ROCK), is celebrating 10 years of providing weekend meals and snacks for students who don’t get enough to eat outside of what school provides during the week. “I had always heard stories about teachers putting snacks in kids’ bags,” Thayer says. “I reached out to a couple of principals and asked if there was a need.”
The answer, of course, was yes. So in 2014, Thayer worked with three other local moms, Jenni Krosnowski, Julie Nelson and Lauren Huntington, to create ROCK. They each contributed a few hundred dollars of their own funds to purchase food at cost from Second Harvest Heartland, the well-known regional food distribution bank, and other wholesaler partners. They packed a weekend’s worth of food—two breakfasts, two lunches, two snacks, plus fruits and veggies—into each cinch bag and delivered them to the social workers’ offices at Grainwood and Five Hawks elementary schools. Students, who’d been identified by the schools, could stop by to pick up a bag for the weekend.
The model was a great success. “That’s still how we do it today,” Thayer says. “Kids would come down and grab their bag and hug it. We’re filling their stomachs, but we’re really feeding their souls. They know someone out there cares about them and wants them to succeed and have food.”
Quickly, ROCK brought on other community partners, from Rotary clubs to the VFW, that could contribute funds to keep the program growing. Originally, the group stored food and supplies in space at a local church; when it outgrew it, a warehouse was rented. “Now, we can purchase food on a huge scale, which saves us a lot of money,” Thayer says.
In addition to weekend food bags, ROCK also helps school social workers fill other needs, like supplies or winter gear, for students. Thayer, who now runs ROCK with the help of five board members and a large group of volunteers, says they typically ask for monetary donations—instead of food or clothing items—when generous neighbors reach out. “It’s typically easier for us to purchase things, so we’re sending the same items each time right to the kids,” she says.
Last year, ROCK started to replicate its success in new locations. “We’ve started a program at Kenwood Trail Middle School in Lakeville,” Thayer says. “Our goal is to reach out and see if there are other schools in Lakeville that would like the program.” She hopes to expand to as many South Metro schools as volunteers can sustain.
Though Thayer’s own kids, Hailee, Connor and Ethan, are now adults and teens, she’s not planning to hand over the ROCK reins any time soon. “It’s kind of my baby,” she says with a laugh. “It’s my passion project.”
Connect with ROCK
To make a donation to ROCK, visit rockmn.org. On the website, you can also fill out the Contact Us form to be added to Keri Thayer’s email signup list, where she notifies volunteers about upcoming needs and opportunities to help.
Reaching Our Community’s Kids
Facebook: Reaching Our Community Kids
Instagram: @rock_mn_org
