Richmond-based Rubina Hope for Kids has donated $5,000 to the Richmond School District’s Feed-U-Cate 38 program, to help support students from low-income families in the city.
The donation will fund week six of the Feed-U-Cate 38 program, which has been delivering groceries to those families since schools closed due to COVID-19.
Iris and Sean Lee, co-founders of Rubina Hope for Kids, are pictured (above) during their visit to Feed-U-Cate 38’s bagging operations Wednesday, where food items are packaged before being delivered to families. Ken Hamaguchi, chair of the Richmond Board of Education, and Feed-U-Cate 38’s Glenn Nishi are also pictured.
Iris and her husband Sean co-founded Rubina Hope for Kids in 2005 in memory of her sister Rubina Wong, who passed away during the 2004 Southeast Asia tsunami.
While the organization was initially only going to be temporary, said Lee, as it was set up with the purpose of building a daycare in Thailand – her sister worked as a daycare teacher – it was able to continue thanks to support from the community.
Now, said Iris, Rubina Hope for Kids works to support children in need in the Richmond community, adding that donating to Feed-U-Cate 38 was a “natural fit” for the work the organization has been doing so far.
That work includes holding a yearly softball fundraiser, and funding breakfast clubs and Christmas hampers with four Richmond elementary schools. In addition, Rubina Hope for Kids has sponsored the Richmond Cares, Richmond Gives’ Skate with Santa for the past few years.
