“Food, clothing and
shelter are basic needs that kids shouldn’t have to worry
about,” Huntley says. “And teachers tell us that when these
kids leave school they don’t eat again until they come back
the next day.”
But Huntley is determined
to improve conditions throughout the community for kids and
their families. “Our job is to provide solutions,” she says.
“We’re talking about future doctors, lawyers, teachers,
homemakers, engineers, mayors and politicians. When we talk
about who these children are today we also have to talk
about who they are going to be.”
Huntley, who has been with
Connecting Kids to Meals since 2006, replaced Patrick Howard
as interim CEO in March 2016. She is a Toledo native, and
attended Nathan Hale, and the now closed Ladyfield
Elementary School. After graduating from Notre Dame Academy,
Huntley enrolled at Bowling Green State University to study
English education.
She earned a law degree
from the former Ohio State University College of Law, which
is now The Michael E. Moritz College of Law, in Columbus,
Ohio after a push from her mom, Sylvia Huntley, PhD,former
director of Toledo Head Start and BGSU professor, and her
dad, a retired postal supervisor. “They set high
expectations for us, so it was pretty much ‘you can be a
doctor or a lawyer,’” she said.
Huntley chose law
believing that this career was more aligned with her
personality and skillset. “I don’t necessarily like to
argue, but I like to talk,” she says.
Huntley was 22 when she
joined Bricker and Eckler, a Columbus-based law firm, and
there she practiced corporate law, litigation and sports and
entertainment law for 12 years.
Huntley says that while in
Columbus she also had the opportunity to work with
Children’s Hunger Alliance as director of Development
overseeing 18 counties.
An illness in her family
led her back to Toledo, and eventually to her current
position with Connecting Kids to Meals.
“It was a privilege to
return,” she says. “But I didn’t want to go to another law
firm.” Instead Huntley found people and organizations whose
work was similar to the interest of Children’s Hunger
Alliance and the purpose of feeding kids.
As CEO of Connecting Kids
to Meals, Huntley’s job now is to develop strategic plans
and a direction for the organization, while making sure that
her staff of six full-time employees has the essential tools
to accomplish objectives.
Part of the organization’s
continuing commitment for growth and development is
demonstrated in a name change from Feed Lucas County
Children to Connecting Kids to Meals, and Huntley says she
wants people to not only remember the history, but to also
begin to think differently about what this organization has
to offer.
“So many things have
changed in the last 15 years,” Huntley says. “Our new name
speaks volumes about what we can do and how we can connect
with kids and their families. We had to look at the value
associated with making that transition. We didn’t take it
lightly.”
Other ways of furthering
the organization’s evolvement and reach is through
partnerships. Connecting Kids to Meals has formed an
alliance with Cherry Street Mission Ministries to expand
their current kitchen area, located inside of the Life
Revitalization Center at 1500 Monroe St., into a larger
space. The massive new kitchen, which has a May 1 completion
date, will have the capacity to feed more than 1 million
children and adults, and address the issue of household
hunger.
“This collaboration is
important, because Cherry Street Mission Ministries
addresses feeding and job training for adults and we provide
meals to children,” Huntley said. “We want to position the
organization so that we will have maximum impact and
effectiveness. A meal is not the answer,” Huntley
emphasizes. “Providing a meal is just the beginning of the
answer. We have to look at the meal as a way to leverage
resources and access the needs of families in order for them
to be able to pull themselves out of poverty.”
According to Huntley,
Connecting Kids to Meals currently has 152 partner sites
that help the organization provide meals for kids. These
sites include: all area library branches, and the Boys and
Girls Club, along with a variety of churches and other
organizations throughout the community and a recent
partnership with a site in Bowling Green.
But there are still some
challenges such as transportation and ease of access that
Huntley and her team continue to face as they move forward.
“My biggest frustration is that I know that there are more
kids out there who are hungry and we can’t reach them,” she
said. “Right now we are only reaching 10,000 of the 30,000
kids that are hungry in Lucas County. All of the partners
even together are only reaching the tip of the iceberg.”
She referred to public
school statistics as the markers for improvement. “Over 80
percent of Toledo Public School students qualify for free or
reduced meals,” Huntley says. “These numbers drop only
slightly for Washington Local, which reports that 60 percent
of its students meet these qualifications. While
Springfield, Sylvania, and Rossford schools and some of the
other districts are ticking very close to 50 percent of kids
who qualify for these programs.”
And although Huntley has a
huge plan for where she wants Connecting Kids to Meals to go
next, she says that she wants the underlying structures of
the organization to be solid.
“In two years we have
grown from about 80 sites to 104 sites, and our afterschool
program has grown from 8 to 28 locations,” Huntley explains.
“This is a significant improvement, but it takes time to
build a strong foundation. “We have to make sure that our
systems and procedures are running in an excellent way so
that we can build stronger.” Huntley says that as they
continue to grow, they must also continue to maintain
adequate FDA requirements, develop nutritious menus for the
kids and strengthen their purchasing power in order to keep
costs down.
Huntley credits the
dedication of the people she works with for some of the
growth and success that they’ve experienced over the years,
but she also welcomes community involvement.
Come out to support us at
one of our fundraising events,” Huntley says. “Join our
mailing list. Like us and follow us on social media.” We
want to hear from you and get your feedback.” Huntley adds
that there are also volunteer opportunities during the
summer. We need people to deliver meals, or stuff some
envelops. Visit our website, there are plenty of
opportunities to get involved.”
“We provide 5000
nutritious meals a day to kids, and we have worked
tirelessly to reposition this organization,” she says. “I’m
like a heat-seeking missile. If I hear that there are hungry
kids out there, we’ve got to figure out how to get meals to
them.”
Huntley says she and her
staff will continue to move forward in order to create a
better life for kids. “In three years I want to be able to
access and provide greater solutions in our communities
through increased capacity and more sites,” she says.
And she says that she
hasn’t overlooked the organization’s strategic position on
Monroe St., or the reformation that is underway in downtown
Toledo. “We are a part of this new downtown revitalization
era. We can’t let the revitalization happen without us. We
need to be prepared to play a role.”
For more information about
Connecting Kids to Meals contact them at (419)720-1106 or
visit their website:
http://www.connectingkidstomeals.org/
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