This story has been edited to clarify that Feed the Need buys its turkeys from Walmart.
By Caroline Shimp
Kzin David, a sophomore at Rockbridge County High School, pitched in Wednesday night at a drive-through pickup of all the fixings for Thanksgiving meals that volunteers put together for needy families.
David is one of nine students enrolled in a class called Food for Thought. The centerpiece of the course is operating a food pantry. They find donors and organize monthly food distributions. The students also educate their other classmates about food insecurity—and provide help to their classmates whose families need food.
“I have seen people who do not want to reach out because they’re embarrassed,” she said. “I would tell them that we are anonymous. We don’t ask for names, and that we can help.”
David was a volunteer at Wednesday’s Feed the Need food drive at the high school. People drove up in their cars near the school’s entrance. The high school student walked up to the cars and asked the drivers what size turkey they needed. She then relayed the request to other volunteers who fetched the turkeys.
A family of four received one turkey, two cans of green beans, two cans of corn, one box of stuffing, gravy, potatoes and rolls.
“There’s a lot of interest in trying to get food in students’ hands this season, not only because of the general need, but the uncertainty that surrounds the impact of the government being shut down for so long,” said Sandra Hayslette, director of Food for Thought.
The need has grown more urgent because of the 43-day federal government shutdown, which temporarily paused Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for hundreds of thousands of Virginians. The shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, began on Oct. 1 and didn’t end until Nov. 12.
“We are giving more than twice as much food as we did 18 months ago,” Hayslette said. “More than half of the folks who are picking up food are brand new to us every time we’ve done it this year.”
Full SNAP benefits have resumed. But local groups have stepped in to help families that went without during the shutdown.
Holly Ferguson, the Rockbridge County Public Schools Family and Community liaison, launched a meal kit initiative this year that’s open to all county students.
“Our kids experience food insecurity even when food stamps are fully funded,” she said.
Ferguson asked administrators to pay for the food in the meal kits by tapping into a federal community schools grant that provides resources to families like social services.
The kits include easy-to-make items like soup, snacks, and mac and cheese that the students themselves can prepare if their parents aren’t home.
“There’s a lot of ‘latchkey’ kids whose parents are working when they come home, so this gives them a way to provide for themselves,” Ferguson said.
The meal kit program will serve about 410 students out of the more than 2,000 students in the Rockbridge County schools.
“We have to have kids fed,” she said. “There’s no learning on an empty tummy.”
On Wednesday, David was volunteering for Feed the Need, the organization that provided Thanksgiving meal kits for Rockbridge County, Lexington and Buena Vista families.
Feed the Need took over distribution of the Thanksgiving meal kits from the Rockbridge Area Relief Association (RARA) after demand grew too large. This year, organizers say, they are seeing record numbers of families in need.
“Unfortunately, every school district has jumped,” said Kathy Larlee, the director of Feed the Need.
She said Buena Vista has increased from 250 to 300 families in the past four years, and she expects about 350 this year.
Feed the Need distributes kits based on family size. There are no criteria to receive food.
Larlee says the organization buys all of its turkeys from the local Walmart and receives donations from area businesses.
“We’re all in this together and be kind,” she said. “You never know what somebody else is going through.”