As Tan’s Treats receives national service award, founders thank generous Southern Utah community

Written by Nick Yamashita
July 6, 2023

ST. GEORGE — The Southern Utah-based Tan’s Treats nonprofit was recently recognized for its community engagement and service with a national biannual award.

Tan’s Treats receives a biannual community service award for servicing 26 schools, St. George, Utah, date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Daughters of the American Revolution Color Country Chapter, St. George News

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution Color Country Chapter nominated the organization for the award. Tan’s Treats focuses on making sure all elementary-aged children have lunches.

Daughters of the American Revolution chapter representative Valerie King said the award program “provides a unique opportunity for chapters and states to provide a non-competitive recognition to worthy individuals and organizations for outstanding voluntary service.” The nomination was provided by Chapter Regent Karen Mangano.

Tan’s Treats Manager Zach Holt said the organization has been all about community engagement.

“Honestly, there are a lot of things about it that are rewarding,” Holt said, “but community engagement has been one of the most rewarding parts of doing this.”

When they first started in 2016, Holt said they didn’t know what it would become. They wanted to do something in honor of their brother and son, Tanner, who passed away unexpectedly due to an airplane crash in 2012 at the age of 23. They also knew they wanted to help out the community and people.

Founded by Diane and Brad Holt, Zach and Tasha Holt, Nicole Holt Goulding and Naomi Holt, it first started as they were packing bags of food with friends and family in their pantry. Zach Holt said for the first little while, they were worried week-to-week about how they would pay for it all.

“We decided that we would never tell a school ‘no’ if they asked for help,” Holt said. “Somehow it has always worked. All the credit goes to the people in the community.”

They named it Tan’s Treats in memory of Tanner, who when he was a child would give his lunch and treats to his best friend at school who did not have lunch. Holt said his mother found out that Tanner was giving his lunch to his friend when he would come home still hungry and always eating. From then on, Tanner was sent to school with two lunches made by his mother, one for him and one for his friend.

Tan’s Treats receives a biannual community service award for servicing 26 schools locally, St. George, Utah, date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Tan’s Treats, St. George News

After Tanner died, his family was introduced to Backpack Buddies, a similar nonprofit in Georgia, and they decided to structure their nonprofit in St. George after that organization. Holt said they have become good friends with the Backpack Buddies organization and are very thankful for their support and help in getting the organization going.

He said they now serve all the Washington County School District elementary schools that choose to participate in the program. They collect food, mainly focusing on items that are nonperishable or last longer. These include ramen, soups, fruit snacks, tuna, Vienna sausages and yogurt that does not need to be refrigerated.

“We try to get things that are simple for the kids,” Holt said.

The group is always taking food and financial donations. He said canned goods are always great, especially protein items. After the items are received, they make bags with items for a full lunch for kids who need lunches in the schools. The orders are put in bins for each school and picked up by the Title I coordinator or social worker from the schools.

Currently, they serve 26 elementary schools locally and one elementary school in Northern Utah. The northern state school started receiving lunch donations because one volunteer moved away and began organizing it for the school there.

They serve two high schools and SUU Head Start in St. George as well.

Tan’s Treats receives a biannual community service award for servicing 26 schools locally, St. George, Utah, date unspecified | Photo courtesy of Tan’s Treats, St. George News

As for more expansion, Holt said they would love to move into Iron County and help more kids, but the funds are not there right now. He said he is sure it will happen, but it’s “just a matter of time.”

“We are managers and stewards of the money and food now, but the people within the community are the ones who do all of the work and donate all of their personal time,” Holt said.

He said they have never lacked on volunteer time, noting that the biggest struggle has been fundraising. They are usually two or three months out on filled volunteer needs.

“The cool thing is that we have little kids come in here all the time,” Holt said about volunteers ranging in all ages. “Talking about really cool stories that are really heart-touching, we have had multiple little kids who have shown up to donate and have shown up with like 20 bags that are packed with food.”

They always ask those kids why they donate and the reply is they have a classmate who doesn’t have food for lunch and the donor kids just want to help their fellow classmates. He says the kids who come volunteer like to make a game of it by seeing who can pack the most bags of food.

Holt said they serve on average about 220,000-250,000 meals each school year, which is about 78,000 pounds of food per school year. He added they are about to come up on two million meals served since they started. Although it doesn’t happen much, leftover food is usually donated to Switchpoint Community Resource Center, Hurricane Food Pantry and Utah Food Bank.

They always pack enough for kids to take home bags for the weekends so they have food for longer breaks from school, like holidays. When asked about their accomplishments, including the award, he said it’s all about the community and the support they have received. They have no paid employees and have received support from the community to run the program, including professional services like tax consulting, legal advice and more.

However, he added there is nothing like seeing the results of the kids receiving the nutrition they need in their faces and smiles.

“It has become so rewarding,” Holt added.

For more information about Tan’s Treats or to donate or volunteer, check out their website for information. They have an “adopt a child” program for $10 per child which ensures weekend meals for one child for that month.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nick Yamashita has extensive experience reporting for small town media, covering a variety of subjects and events for The Virgin River Times and The Progress in Southern Nevada. Before a career in journalism, he worked a variety of jobs in criminal justice systems. Yamashita holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and a master's degree in interdisciplinary studies from Southern Utah University. He is an award-winning photographer and writer. He has been published in scholarly articles and poetry compilations. In his spare time, he practices and teaches martial arts.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

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