Following the cut of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits nationwide, Student Council organized a food drive to provide food for those in need. In “Free State Snaps Back to Hunger,” the school participated in gathering food for the over 1,000 students in the district who depend on SNAP benefits. In the food drive, clubs and extracurriculars competed against each other to see who could bring in the most food.
Sophomore StuCo representative Cooper Stoetnzer said food should be accessible to everyone, no matter what.
“Everybody should have a way to get food. If somebody’s hungry, that’s a problem, and we can do something about it,” Stoetzner said. “Nobody should have to worry about where their next meal is coming from, especially when they have school, stress and work on top of it.”
After learning about the effects of these cuts on our student body, StuCo adviser Steve Heffernan said that StuCo has the responsibility and resources to help out those in need.
“StuCo has the opportunity not only to volunteer in the community, such as in retirement homes, but also to help our own students with the resources that we have,” Heffernan said.
StuCo representatives purchased over 30 bags of food from Dillons with their own money to contribute to the food drive and The Nest, a school-sanctioned supply closet available to any student at any time. Social worker and coordinator of The Nest, Meg Lyles, received some of these donations and said it was very generous for the StuCo to do so.
“They, on their own, using their own student money, not StuCo money, went and bought 30 bags of groceries for the nest, which was really great. I did not expect them to do that. I had no idea that was coming,” Lyles said.
Stoetzner said that the food donated during the drive gets distributed to The Nest alongside other food security programs, like Just Food.
“After [the students] bring in the food and money, we take it all and donate it. We donate to places, like Just Food [where] people can go for food,” Stoetzner said.
Heffernan said that food drives are always good and needed in the community. He also said that, with the resources that StuCo has, it was a definitive yes to organize.
Stoetzner said that while it’s great that StuCo can help out students and families in need, it is still an issue that needs attention. He said that food is a basic need and should be accessible to everyone.
“It’s kind of sad that people can’t get food when they really need it, especially if they’re doing the same thing as you and me,” Stoetzner said.
