In early 2013, a group of women from the Women’s Philanthropy division were seeking to fill a need in the community: there were children arriving at school regularly with nothing to eat. Working with Agence Ometz, they created Lunch for a Bunch, packing and delivering lunches to the schools of these children before the first recess bell.

The lunches, each of which are packed in nondescript bags, are delivered to 14 day schools across the city before the first recess bell, where school administrators discreetly slip them into the knapsacks of 83 children who were arriving at school regularly with nothing to eat.

“As women, we like to nurture and nourish our families through food,” said Jodi Mintz, Chair of TOV. “As mothers, hearing about a child who’s hungry, that just broke our hearts.”