15-year-old Mariam Ryder'sFoundation feeds hundreds of families in Loomis

When Loomis resident Mariam Ryder was five years old, her father, Joshua Ryder, served in the Army and performed missions to send meal packs overseas. One day, Joshua Ryder heard his daughter playing with toy trucks in the living room with her younger brother, saying "Feed the children, feed the children." "Miriam, do you want to do that? Do you want to feed the children?" Mariam Ryder said her father asked. "Yeah," Mariam Ryder said. At the age of five, Mariam Ryder said she walked around her small neighborhood with her mother, encouraging her neighbors to sign up to send meal packs overseas. When Mariam Ryder was 11 years old and her father left the Army, he asked if she wanted to take her charity to the next level and start a nonprofit. Mariam said yes. In 2018, Mariam Ryder and her father founded LEOA Foundation, which stands for Love Each Other Always, to provide food to those in the area. LEOA's efforts started with just a pickup truck and a few volunteers to set up tables with food every week outside a church in Loomis, Mariam Ryder said. Now, the foundation gives away 12,000 pounds of food every week, according to 15-year-old Mariam Ryder. Guests line up outside Calvary Christian Center Loomis on a Thursday afternoon to pick up food from LEOA Foundation. Tara Gnewikow/Gold Country Media LEOA gives out food every Thursday starting about noon at Calvary Christian Center Loomis at 4655 King Road. The foundation also distributes at Calvary Christian Center Sacramento every Tuesday, starting about 11:30 a.m. In addition, the foundation has established service areas in the Grants Pass area of Oregon and the Las Vegas area of Nevada. Although LEOA receives food donations from residents, it obtains most of its food every week from Placer Food Bank, Mariam Ryder said. The foundation pays for the supplies from the food bank with the help of donors. LEOA provides a wide variety of food, including milk, eggs, whole turkeys, packaged meals, sweets and fruits each week. In addition to providing food, LEOA also distributes clothing, toys and provides educational classes, Mariam said. On food distribution days, the foundation often has tables with donated clothes set up for those in need. The foundation also gives toys away to children each Christmas and has provided a parenting class for education, Mariam Ryder said. The foundation gave to about 2,412 families last quarter and gives to about 201 families every week, Mariam Ryder said. Volunteers take their pick of food on one of LEOA's food distribution days every Thursday at Calvary Christian Center Loomis. Tara Gnewikow/Gold Country Media Mariam Ryder and others at the LEOA Foundation refer to those they provide food and supplies to as guests. "Most of our guests are volunteers," Mariam Ryder said. "So we like to give them dignity and not just be serving them but to have them serve others so they feel like they're doing something back. So most of our families, I'd say more than half of our families, volunteer as well as receive food." About 100 volunteers for LEOA come through Calvary Christian Center Loomis each week, Mariam Ryder said. Each of those volunteers are generally picking up food for a household or four people, said James Gilbert, LEOA's executive director. "That means that LEOA is serving more than 300 people every Thursday," Gilbert said. "And it's five to six tons of food every Thursday." Gilbert said all ages come to LEOA for food and resources, including single mothers and seniors. Rob Meaglia, who joined LEOA about two years ago, is the foundation's onsite manager in charge of overseeing the food distribution. Rob Meaglia, LEOA's onsite manager, addresses volunteers on one of the foundation's distribution days before they receive food from the Placer Food Bank. Tara Gnewikow/Gold Country Media "The best thing is the people," Meaglia said. "The volunteers are fantastic. The wide spectrum of socioeconomic status. We're multicultural, we're multi-language. We have people with Ph.Ds, we have people that haven't graduated from grammar school. We get the whole spectrum." Mariam Ryder said her future goal is for LEOA to become a mobile store where residents can come any time and day of the week to receive free groceries, clothes and toys. She also wants LEOA to hold more classes on topics such as personal finance and technology. "So they're not only receiving free stuff, but learning that they don't need to receive free stuff and learning how to manage their time and money so that they can provide for themselves and we don't have to provide for them," Mariam Ryder said. Mariam Ryder is currently homeschooled as a sophomore in high school. "I have to manage my time well," Mariam Ryder said. "Because I'm not only doing school and getting my homework done and trying to hang out with friends, but as well as running a nonprofit and trying to sustain that nonprofit. I work around once a week as well as Thursdays, just trying to get more donors and trying to get more people to help sponsor LEOA." Mariam Ryder said the best way to contribute to LEOA is to donate at https://leoa.org/donate. The website also includes the addresses of each distribution location and their operating times.