BAKERSFIELD, CA - Covenant Community Services helps youth support themselves and get on their feet when transitioning out of the foster care system. Many residents know about their coffee, but they recently added another aspect to benefit foster youth.
Covenant's Brown Bag It team serves pre-made lunches and breakfast burritos, but it's more than just a lunch truck. Each weekday morning, the team hits the streets bright and early.
"From 1 am to 3:40 am, we're in the kitchen cooking fresh eggs, the sandwich of the day, the burrito of the day, rolling the burritos, packing bags, loading the trailers up, and just getting everything ready for the day. Then we go, head out, and get there at 4 o'clock," said 21-year-old cook Jordan Brewer.
It's all for a good cause.
"It goes back to the kids. It's totally non-profit organization. So everything we're making, it goes back to run this," said Brewer. He grew up in foster care. after being on his own, he turned to Covenant Community Services for help and is now paying it forward. "It's important to give back to the kids that couldn't do it themselves."
22-year-old kitchen manager David Anderson said, "I really love what we do for foster kids because a lot of people don't even know about foster kids and I just want to really raise the awareness for foster kids because they need hope in their life and without hope, they don't know where to go."
Anderson was also in foster care. He said the transition to being on his own wasn't easy.
"Before I got into Covenant, I was on drugs. I just got out of jail and it was just really hard, I had no place to live," said Anderson. Since becoming part of the team he's turned his life around. "I'm a year clean, off of alcohol, drugs, everything and it's just, it's really nice. I'm really glad that Covenant has came into my life because without them, I don't know where I'd be at."
The lunches are $7. They also have breakfast burritos, coffee, and drinks available.
Each weekday morning from 4:00 am to 6:30 am, they're on the corners of James Road and Airport Drive. From 4:00 am to 7:00 am, they're also on the corner of Stockdale Highway and Enos Lane.
