The Just One Project brings food, self-help to underserved Las Vegas neighborhoods
On this frigid Saturday morning, 14-year-old Michelle Garcia Villalovos stacks cans of Campbell soup into a growing pile under the bright yellow tent branded with The Just One Project’s pink heart.
Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop” plays loudly in the background as the high school freshman rushes between cars with the rest of her Navy Reserve Officers’ Training Corps members distributing food to needy Las Vegas families at Clark High School.
The group of student volunteers — with the help of The Just One Project’s warehouse manager, Brittany Givero — only needed one hour to load food into the massive line of cars looking for assistance at the mobile food pantry.
Givero said the project serves about 120 to 200 cars during each pop-up event, but holidays like Thanksgiving draw more people than usual.
“It’s nice to really help out people and to give out food,” Garcia Villalovos said. “I bet (the people receiving food) are thankful for the food.”
The Just One Project, founded by CEO Brooke Neubauer in 2016, provides food to “more than 20,000 people monthly” in Las Vegas’ underserved neighborhoods.
The Just One Project has served 249,293 clients, with roughly 47% of them being seniors and 36% identifying as Latino, the group said. They distribute food at the organization’s community market on North Rancho Drive, through pop-up events like at Clark High and even make home deliveries to the sick and elderly.
Neubauer said that the need for food usually spikes around the holidays, as resources are stretched even more thin
for families.
Like other food banks, the distribution bags include staples such as soups and other canned goods. But, the The Just One Project also distributes dairy products, fruits and vegetables that is donated from community partners.
And at their by-appointment community market at the group’s headquarters, they offer fresh groceries, nutritional advice and recipes — all free and all tailored to a client’s needs. They served 52,367 clients at the market in 2021, the group said.
“We have built such a unique, trusting relationship with our clients that they are more eager to see how else we can help them so that they can become self-sustainable and shop at the grocery store of their choice instead of having to come to our no-cost community,” Neubauer said.
The group does more than food distribution.
It also operates a housing program that connects homeless individuals with stable accommodations, while their self-development classes range from lessons in English to financial responsibility. For children sixth grade through high school, they have a leadership seminar.
“It’s really important to inspire young people to be aware of what’s going on in the community,” Neubauer said. “We want to help youth develop into civically-engaged do-gooders (that) inspire other youth to get involved.”
Neubauer said she “caught the bug of giving back” through a friend, who inspired the creation of The Just One Project. She hopes others will feel the same.
“There’s definitely no shortage of help that the community can do for nonprofits,” Neubauer said. “We just welcome all the support people want to give.”
That includes a younger generation like Garcia Villalovos, who said she was initially “skeptical” about volunteering but enjoyed the experience so much that she’ll continue to help.
“(The food bank) really just brings everyone together to help one another,” Garcia Villalovos said. “Volunteer, because honestly it’s so fun to really connect with your peers and also different people of different ages.”
The group is always looking for donations and volunteers — delivery drivers, help at a mobile food bank and more. Visit https://thejustoneproject.org/volunteer-1 for information.