Explorers Plan Little Food Pantry Expansion
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Image courtesy of Swan School [/caption]
News by Kathie Meyer
Katey Dwyer’s students in her Swan School Explorers class are gaining an understanding of hunger, of what it means not to be able to simply reach into their backpack and get a snack. They are learning about community and simple solutions.
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Katey Dwyer's (far right) Explorers class at Swan School aims to add at least five more food pantries to the town by the end of the school year. Behind the students is a map of where the current food pantries exist in town and the surrounding area. Photo by Kathie Meyer [/caption]
As usual, the Swan School’s Explorers class, ages 5-7, organizes an annual food drive for the entire private school, which includes grades pre-school through grade 5. As usual, a poster was made.
“The whole entire school got food for the food bank,” said Isla, one of the Explorers in Dwyer’s class.
“And that’s what started the conversation,” said Dwyer.
As the students delivered the goods, all 232 lbs. of it, to the food bank, they took a walking tour. Noting a lot of Little Free Library stations in the Uptown area, they also noted there were zero Little Free Pantry stops.
As a class, Dwyer’s students had studied food insecurity in preparation for the food drive. As they considered the lack of pantries, the students thought having a few more could help since the food bank is only open two days a week. This, they decided, could be their class project. Times are, after all, pretty tough. Maybe they’d never been hungry for days on end, but having a few more food pantries in town was something that just made sense.
If they don’t much understand everlasting hunger so much on a personal level, quite a few had an answer to the question – What does it mean to live in a community?
“Community means a lot of people doing a lot of things together,” said one student.
“It’s when the whole town comes together,” said another.
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A handwritten poll posted on social media from the Explorers gained the class needed momentum to start working on filling in food pantry gaps. Photo courtesy of Swan School Explorers [/caption]
But, first of all, did the students even know where all of the existing pantries were? Having a map to find all of them would be key as well, they decided. A handwritten shout-out on social media went out to help find existing pantries and to suggest where more are needed. The response was enthusiastic.
The students understand that community means looking toward your loved ones and neighbors for help, too. Students Niko and Makee have dads with building experience, and Dwyer’s brother, Jack, also offered help. One of them has a friend in one of the builders working across the street from the school, so they think they can count on him and possibly his crew, too. The class is hoping to add at least five pantries to the seven that already exist, Dwyer said. The first two pantries will go in at the fairgrounds and at The Nest on Lawrence Street.
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church has a food pantry that is restocked nearly every day. The church was a good resource for learning what to expect and the importance of having those willing to take responsibility for the pantries, Dwyer said. Food that has an expired “use by” date is a common problem.
In due time, the Jefferson County Beacon will host the food pantry map on its website. Others who have noticed the project and offered help include Karen Obermeyer, WIC Nutrition Program Coordinator for Jefferson County.
“She sent us a list of all of the resources in one spot, and she loved the project,” said Dwyer.
The next hurdle is raising money for materials. The school will have a donate button to use on its website soon, Dwyer said. The class plans to finish the entire project by the end of the school year in June.
