Corporate Partner Spotlight: SupplyKick

One of our corporate volunteer partners, e-commerce company SupplyKick, makes giving back a part of their company culture. Not only do they support The Patachou Foundation through financial contributions, a team from SupplyKick volunteers each week by serving nutritious, scratch-made meals to kids at IPS 14.We got the low-down from SupplyKick's Director of Culture and Talent Natalie Rettig on why they love TPF's mission and the best part about volunteering with kids.How did SupplyKick's relationship with Patachou begin?In 2017, SupplyKick offered its team members the opportunity to nominate a local organization to receive a $2,500 donation on behalf of the company. From the nominees, SupplyKick selected the Patachou Foundation, and upon meeting with their staff, elected to begin a volunteering partnership as well. SupplyKick team members completed an orientation process last summer to begin serving meals to students at Indianapolis Public School 14.How does SupplyKick support TPF?We've been fortunate to be able to give both time and monetary resources to TPF. Our staff works on a bi-weekly basis with students from Washington Township School 14 to serve meals to students in the after-school program. In 2017, we were able to provide roughly 750 meals to Indianapolis students through our monetary donation.What about TPF’s mission inspires you?Children who don't know where their next meal is coming from deal with a kind of stress that no child should face. The Patachou Foundation not only provides meals to those kids now but also teaches them about new foods and interesting tastes that they otherwise may not be exposed to. The organization is creating delicious food and generational change for the folks in our community.What has been the coolest part of your experience supporting TPF so far?Watching a student eat something that they like! Sometimes it takes a few tries before they decide they like a certain food, but once they've fallen in love with a certain item, their faces light up. The best part is that they will ask for that food the next time, and you know they've remembered how delicious this healthy food item was and will likely continue to seek out that food as they get older.Beyond keeping bellies full, why does food matter?Great nutrition means better academic performance and long-term health. Creating healthy habits now means children will continue to seek out healthy foods as they get older. It goes without saying that when kids have access to better food and are educated about how to prepare healthy meals, they run a lower risk weight-related diseases. And on top of that, when students have access to healthy food, they can focus on just being a kid!Can you share a food memory, family tradition, or something you loved to eat when you were a kid?My grandmother's cooking is to die for and it's something that has brought our family closer over the years. Every summer growing up we would drive from Colorado to Indiana and the minute we'd get in, she would feed us. Usually spaghetti or an Italian dish, but always something delicious. After dinner, we'd sit around the table and play games for hours, always making great memories and laughing.