The Rotary Club of Beverly Hills partnered with local restaurants and the Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD) on May 26, for project Feeding the Soul. The mission of the organization is to provide a hot dinner to those families in need who have been specifically identified in the City as low income.
“I was shocked to learn that over 300 families are living below the poverty level in the BHUSD,” said, Rotarian Frances Bilak, who has lived in the City for close to 25 years.
The second Feeding of the Soul event took place on May 28, at Horace Mann elementary school between 5:30 to 6 p.m. and they have already seen a 20 percent increase in attendance, according to Bilak.
Participating restaurants included The Beverly Hills Market and Deli, The Palm, Xi’an, and The Nosh of Beverly Hills. “They were on board immediately,” Bilak told the Courier. “It helps the restaurants too, so it’s win-win all around,” said Bilak.
She added, “There are other programs within the City that can pay up to $25 for a meal, but we can only pay $12 per meal, so we know that the restaurants are subsidizing each meal.”
The Rotary Club is testing out the program twice a week for the next month, but they hope to extend the duration and add more nights per week, depending on funding. The initial funding came from longtime Beverly Hills resident, author, and fellow Rotarian, Robbie Anderson.
