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‘I ate paper this morning cause there was no food in the house’
Recently at a local elementary school, a young boy passed out during class and upon being taken to the nurses’ office he explained that he didn’t have any food at home for breakfast. Instead, he had eaten paper.
“You have no idea how many students go home and have nothing to eat,” said Marty McCain, Sanpete Food Pantry’s director of fundraising.
Over fifty percent of students in Sanpete qualify for free or reduced lunch, and one in five students are facing hunger in Sanpete.
This hunger students can face plays a crucial role in their lives.
“Nutrition plays a huge role in academic performance and social interaction, in everything the kids do,” said Cindy Lund, NS school districts’ parent-student coordinator. “If they don’t start the day out with a good meal it can drastically impact their day.”
Understanding students’ needs, the pantry took into consideration that the greatest impact people can have is on those around them, and with this in mind, the ‘3 and Me’ campaign was founded.
“We have a donation program that we started in December called ‘3 and Me’,” McCain said, “which stands for a simple concept: that we would find somebody like you, [a high school student] to say, “Ooh I would like to help out, I can give ten to twenty bucks, four times a year. Then we ask you, “Hey can you ask three friends?”
Just like that, there is eighty dollars going to the pantry to those in need. Then if each of those three friends texts three of their friends and so forth until there are only twenty-five other people, you would have five hundred dollars.
“To help you understand how powerful that is, it is about eight dollars per kid-pack [sacks of food given out at schools before the weekend], we have to buy that food. A pallet of milk alone costs about $4,000,” McCain said, “Now if you got $500, you just fed about sixty-two kids for a weekend. You just reached out and touched sixty-two kids. How powerful is that $20 now?”
The ‘3 and Me’ campaign has been a success and has made a true impact on those students and their families in need.
“A [high-school student] did a text blast to her friends and raised $12,000 dollars in a week. Just asking for $10-$20,” McCain said.
These seemingly small donations have a huge influence on the resources the pantry will be able to provide.
“If I have ever become aware of a family need, the pantry has been more than happy to respond to my requests,” Lund said. “I can just call and say I am aware of a student in need and they have given me boxes of food that I am able to deliver.”
Not only do the donations impact their resources now, they play a huge role in program and outreach expansion for the pantry.
“We are working on fitting a truck with shelves stocked with food so we can go out to farther areas and do drop-ins [in the evening] starting hopefully in April so that when the kids and the parents are home they can get some food,” McCain said. “This truck should pack enough food to feed twenty families and the donations we have received these past three months are making it all possible.”
If you are a student or parent in need of food, there is help readily available, just reach out.
“It is important that students and families are aware that there are resources available and they are just a phone call away,” Lund said.
Many more of these opportunities and programs can become a reality as more donations are provided to the pantry. You can donate directly through Venmo or mail-ins to 1080 Blackhawk Blvd, Mt Pleasant, Utah 84647.
