the meals make a difference to 8th grader pedro santana. >> really important to focus in class. >> reporter: edita cruz became executive director of martha's kitchen in 2001. her passion, to fight hunger. >> you see hunger everywhere. people do not realize that it can happen to anybody. >> reporter: so the former tech startup project manager quadrupled the size of the kitchen. as a result, meal service soared from 75,000 a year to nearly half a million. and its reach extends beyond san jose. board president ray flowers says the kitchen is cooking and delivering free meals to more than 40 nonprofits reaching into east palo alto, salinas, santa cruz and the san joaquin valley. >> she gets out and talks to people and convinces partners that they should be helping more. she has really been the driving force of martha's kitchen. >> reporter: sacred heart school's president calls edita a problem solver. >> she sees possibility in the world where we can see a lot of barriers. >> reporter: she never another guess how she and her -- forgets how she and her husband were laid off from their tech jobs

the meals make a difference to eighth-grader pedro santana.>> a crew started the meal program for lowcome students when she became executive director of martha's kitchen in 2001. her passion, to fight hunger.>> you see hunger everywhere, people do not realize that it can happen to anybody.>> they started up with the project manager, and quadrupled the size of the kitchen, as a result, meal service sword to nearly half 1 million -- sword -- the kitchen is cooking and delivering free meals to more than 40 nonprofits, reaching into east palo alto, santa cruz, and the san joaquin valley.>> she gets out and talks to people and convinces partners that they should be helping more. she has been the driving force in this kitchen.>> sacred heart nativity school president calls her a problem solver.>> she sees possibility in a world where we can see a lot of barriers.>> she never forgets how she and her husband were laid off from their tech jobs in 2001.>> we were so close to homelessness, it is hard to imagine.>> her joy is feeding folks in their time of greatest need.>> i didn't have a place t

the meals make a difference to eighth-grader pedro santana. >> it's important when you're trying to focusng class. >> she started the program for low income students when she was the executive director of martha's kitchen in 2001. her passion, to fight hunger. >> you see hunger everywhere. people don't realize it could happen to anyone. >> the former project manager quadrupled the size of the kitchen and as a result of meal service sort from 75,000 per year to nearly half 1 million. its reach extends beyond san jose. the kitchen is cooking and delivering free meals to more than 40 nonprofits. >> she gets out and talks to people. she convinces partners that they should be helping more. she has really been a driving force in marketÃmartha's kitchen. >> sonja calls her a problem solver. >> she sees possibility in a world where we could see a lot of barriers. >> she never forgets how she and her husband were laid off from their tech jobs in 2001. >> we were so close to homelessness. it's hard to imagine. >> for joy is feeding people like steve and helping people in their time of need. >> i ha