By Sarah Breckon, External Communications Specialist
Kwabi Amoah-Forson was walking to the Tacoma Center YMCA for a workout when a car pulled up beside him and hit the brakes. The window rolled down.
“Hey man,” the driver shouted. "You’re cool. I lost my job last summer. Your program made sure my kids could eat.”
For Kwabi, moments like that inspire his mission. As the founder of The Peace Bus and the All Youth Can Eat campaign, he’s driving more than a food program, it’s a movement rooted in compassion, dignity, and community.
Tackling Hunger with Dignity
All Youth Can Eat is a summer campaign that connects youth under 18 and college students with free meals at locally owned restaurants. Each day of the week, a different restaurant offers a limited menu during a designated time. No questions, no judgement, just food.
Last summer alone, over 3,000 meals were served to kids in Tacoma and Seattle. This year, the goal is 6,000, with the campaign extending to Denver and Toldeo, Ohio.
Food insecurity is a growing problem in Pierce County, where 1 in 5 kids don’t know where their next meal is coming from. That number spikes to an estimated 1 in 4 during the summer, when school breakfast and lunches aren’t available.
More than 50% of local students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, but an estimated 40% of food insecure children aren’t eligible for federal nutrition programs.
All Youth Can Eat helps fill that gap, and does it with dignity.
“There’s something powerful about going into a restaurant and just being a regular kid,” Kwabi says. “No tickets, no tokens, no stigma. You can’t tell who’s there for the campaign and who’s just there eating lunch. That’s how it should be.”
Full Plates Started with Peace
Kwabi has a long-standing commitment to meeting basic needs with compassion and dignity. That mission first began as the Peace Bus, an old van Kwabi painted with the word Peace and transformed into a vehicle for humanitarian aid. When he saw the gutted seats inside, he thought: why not fill that space with supplies and simply get the essentials to people who need them?
The Peace Bus became a mobile resource for delivering essentials directly to those who needed them most. Over time, Kwabi’s mission expanded and inspired projects like All Youth Can Eat.
The impact often goes far beyond a single item. After speaking at Bates Technical College, Kwabi was approached by a young firefighter cadet who told him, “You may not remember me, but you talked to me and my mom during your campaign and gave us socks from your van. You inspired me to become a firefighter.”
It’s just one example of how meeting youth with care can change the trajectory of a life.
A Call to Join the Movement
Over a dozen local restaurants have already signed on for this summer, with more joining each week. The campaign is growing, but so is the need for it.
“This isn’t charity,” Kwabi says. “It’s just how things should be. People should have food. Kids should eat. When we invest in our youth, we’re investing in our own future.”
You can support All Youth Can Eat by:
- Donating online via Kwabi’s GoFundMe
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Following The Peace Bus on Instagram to learn more about participating restaurants
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Spreading the word to families, educators, and youth across the region