SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Four car loads of food and hundreds of dollars in donations were collected last weekend during the 8th bi-annual Cram-A-Cruiser event hosted by Bread & Broth 4 Kids, at Grocery Outlet. 

Christy Slocum and “Tahoe Best Volunteer” nominee, Cheryl Breitwieser, were the leads from Bread & Broth 4 Kids, an ancillary program to Bread & Broth. According to Breitwieser, the group has been active since 2015 and doing the bi-annual event since the following year.

The Tahoe Hockey Academy, that participates in volunteer events all over the city, and sophomores and seniors from South Tahoe High School’s ‘S’ Club, stood in the wind, hail, rain and snow to help collect food that will be used to support the programs supported by Bread & Broth 4 Kids.

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Last year, volunteer Peter Spellman, drove his 1991 hearse to the Grocery Outlet on Halloween, with a 10 foot bed which was filled from top to bottom, the event leader told the Tribune. 

“Cram A Hearse was one of the biggest events we’ve ever done. We dressed up in costumes. We’ll be doing it on Oct. 28 this year,” Breitwieser said.

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The event isn’t one way, Breitwieser said the volunteers handed out donated special treats for the kids during the halloween event, including ice cream, stuffed animals and trick or treat bags filled with candy. 

Donations from Heavenly Mountain Resort have been helping to fund the nonprofit but they’re dwindling fast according to Breitwieser.

Bread & Broth 4 Kids runs a snack program and summer food pantry program which supplies school age youth with nutrition bars and every Wednesday during the summer, at Grace Hall, a buffet and the kids can grab as much food as they want and get something sweet at the end.

According to Breitwieser more than 2,000 kids per summer are served through the summer program and through the pandemic they served 2,000 kids per month.

“There’s so many kids in need. We found out that there were kids who were hungry stealing snacks at school because they had to leave their backpacks in the hallway. We’re trying to help those kids,” Breitwieser said, and added the snack program has since eliminated at least the snack time hunger at schools in the area.

“What we have found is that no one is going to learn if they’re hungry. Everything we offer has to be a prepackaged shelf based item so it does have sodium but we had a nutritionist come in and overlook the items we bring to the school,” Breitwieser said and added the program has received a grant to provide protein and fresh fruit to provide “somewhat of a balanced meal over the weekend.”