A food pantry project that opened this week at St. Patrick’s secondary school in Sarnia already has shown its value, says one of the students leading the project.
A food pantry project that opened this week at St. Patrick’s secondary school in Sarnia already has shown its value, says one of the students leading the project.
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“Monday was our first day of operation,” said student Jaxon Hudie. “We’ve already had a huge decrease in inventory,” he said Thursday. “We could see the need.”
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He’s part of the project with fellow students Coady Davies, Xzavier Toogood and Carter Lambert. All four are in a Grade 12 business leadership class which worked with Enactus, a social enterprise group at Lambton College.
“They taught us the importance of social entrepreneurship,” and their teacher spoke about a student food pantry at a previous school at which she taught, Hudie said.
“Doing some research, we found about one in five students in Ontario suffering from food insecurity,” he said. Statistically, 290 of the 1,450 students at St. Pat’s could be in that situation, Hudie said.
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“It was a little astonishing that four students per classroom, roughly, suffered from food insecurity,” he said.
“We figured out the best way to solve that would be a student pantry where students are welcome to come in and bring food home for their families,” he said.
The school has a breakfast program “where students can come and grab food so they’re not hungry through the day,” Hudie said.
The panty is intended to supplement food at home, for those who need it, he said.
“Any students who need it are always welcome,” Hudie said. “It’s easily accessible.”
They named it Patty’s Pantry after the school’s name.
The pantry is in a classroom and includes a cupboard stocked with food, a small freezer and access to a refrigerator.
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“In the cupboard we’ve got things like peanut butter, crackers, some canned goods,” he said. There are also frozen dinners in the freezer.
“Our first go at it, we tried to find the cheapest options that are still hearty,” Hudie said. “As we get some support, we’d like to up our inventory and make it more diverse.”
Hudie said they began with a $200 donation and spent half on an initial round of supplies for the pantry.
“We’ll have to go out and buy some more, probably next week to keep it full,” he said.
Hudie said they are looking for grants and support from the community, including local businesses, to keep the pantry going. Anyone interested in learning more can contact the school office or reach out to Hudie by email at [email protected].
“It was cool to see we could make a difference in the community,” Hudie said about the initial response.
“I’m so proud of him and his group for identifying a need here at the school and then taking action to address it,” said school principal Daniella Macusi.
“It’s just stewardship at its finest,” she said.
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