LOCAL HERO Jennifer Dassau • Feeding Tiny Tummies

Four years ago, Jennifer Dassau was working as a family advocate for the Head Start program through Southwestern Community Services in Keene. &emsp;&emsp;She was serving about 35 families. &emsp;&emsp;"Kids would come to me at the end of the day on a Friday and ask for a snack to take home (for the weekend)," she says. "It got to the point where I was buying snacks myself." &emsp;&emsp;She reached out to the New Hampshire Food Bank for help, thinking she would need to work with an organization to help these children further. &emsp;&emsp;"I found out I could start my own, and I had to come up with a name right away: Feeding Tiny Tummies," she says of the Keene nonprofit program she founded to fight childhood hunger. &emsp;&emsp;For the remainder of the 2017 school year, Dassau, director of the organization, helped feed families of children in need at two local childcare centers. The following year, she added five more. Today, she provides 12,000-plus nutritious meals a week to more than 500 families in all six Southwestern Community Services Head Start centers in the region and beyond as well as to local schools and daycare centers in Cheshire and Sullivan counties. &emsp;&emsp;"I try to get to the towns that have less access," she notes. &emsp;&emsp;The number of meals rose to that amount at the beginning of the pandemic and has stayed there. &emsp;&emsp;Children are coming to school hungry one or more times each week. In the classroom, hunger leads to an inability to concentrate, poor academic performance, behavior problems, physical, dental and mental health problems. &emsp;&emsp;Dassau has a team of between 10 and 15 volunteers (each working between two and four hours a week) who meet at Feeding Tiny Tummies on Emerald Street in Keene in the Silk Mill building. &emsp;&emsp;Every week they prep and assemble lunch bags, accommodating dietary needs and food allergies, for weekends and breaks from school. &emsp;&emsp;"We have a lot of retired folks (who volunteer)," says Dassau. "They are so committed." &emsp;&emsp;One volunteer, in particular, Ken Gunn, she gives special recognition. &emsp;&emsp;"He delivers to 40-plus families," says Dassau. "I can call him anytime, and he will drop everything to help." &emsp;&emsp;Dassau's mother, Margaret Knox, has also shown her support by volunteering for the organization. &emsp;&emsp;Other families choose to come and pick up their meals at the Emerald Street facility. &emsp;&emsp;Feeding Tiny Tummies leads a back-to-school program that includes backpacks to last the first week of school filled with school supplies, snacks and drinks along with an item such as a new book. The organization also provides Thanksgiving and Easter meals and a holiday program called Tinsel and Toys for Tiny Tummies, for which donors can "adopt" a family. &emsp;&emsp;Because of the 25% uptick in need during the summer months, Dassau added a summer program that provides access to food and fresh produce as well as books and school supplies. &emsp;&emsp;"If (families) can pay their rent, I am here to help," she says. "I'm also a book of resources and referrals for other organizations who offer assistance." &emsp;&emsp;While Dassau has received some grant funding for her organization to pay for such necessities as refrigerators and freezers, most of the food is donated, and some are purchased. Monetary donations made via the website and Facebook page also help her buy food items, including nonperishables and vegan meals. &emsp;&emsp;Starting Feeding Tiny Tummies, where Dassau works every day, is something she wanted to do after raising her four children when she said she began her career. Her husband, Ken Dassau, provided a van for Dassau to deliver meals. &emsp;&emsp;"Children are my life," says Dassau, who also works as Guardian Ad Litem, advocating for the best interest of children involved in legal proceedings — she's held the position a little more than a year. &emsp;&emsp;Before that, she was a family violence prevention specialist for The Monadnock Center for Violence Prevention. &emsp;&emsp;"If there are food insecurities at home, there are financial insecurities at home," she says. "And if there are financial insecurities at home, adults get stressed, and that's when domestic violence happens." &emsp;&emsp;While Dassau admits her system at Feeding Tiny Tummies isn't always perfect, she feels it does its part to help the next generation. &emsp;&emsp;"If we don't give them good roots and raise them well, what will happen to this country?" she says. "We need to feed (children's) tummies and minds to have success."