When a mobile food pantry made a stop at Indian Creek High School, about 100 people lined up for help, showing the need in the community.
Scott Wilkerson, mild interventions teacher at the high school, saw the people lining up when a mobile Gleaner’s Food Pantry made a stop, and he knew at least five families were consistently getting help with weekend meals through a program at the high school.
Wilkerson thought something more permanent would allow more people in the community to get help to be helped. And his life skills students could learn the ins and outs of running an endeavor, gaining life and job skills by taking inventory, helping people when the pantry was open and sorting through donations, he said.
“It is good for our community,” he said. “We are going for a full blown food pantry with everything you could possibly have.”
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A new food pantry, The Brave Pantry, will begin serving families once a month from a classroom at the high school.
The new pantry will be open from 4:30 to 6 p.m. the first Thursday of every month, starting Thursday, and is open to families who have a student at any Nineveh-Hensley-Jackson school. Employees can receive help from the pantry too. No income restriction are in place for the food pantry, he said.
“We are here to help anyone no matter what,” Wilkerson said.
A $500 grant from the Nineveh-Hensley-Jackson Education Foundation helped provide the starting money to get the pantry going. Churches in the area have donated to the food pantry and Wilkerson is trying to start a partnership with Gleaner’s as well, he said.
Opening a food pantry in a school district helps in multiple ways, Indian Creek High School Principal Luke Skobel said.
Rural schools such as Indian Creek are often the hub of community activities. Students live in multiple small communities including Morgantown, Trafalgar and Nineveh and rely on the school for a sense of community, he said.
“It has given us a way to connect to the community,” Skobel said.
“We have that need within the school, you know it is greater outside the school.”
Students in the essential skills class learn skills they need to be successful outside of school. And other school groups, such as the FFA, have gotten involved in the effort, allowing students to fulfill a need in the community, he said.
“For other students in the building, it gives them something they can contribute to the community,” Skobel said.
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What: The Brave Pantry, a food pantry at Indian Creek schools
Open: 4:30 to 6 p.m. the first Thursday of every month
Where: Room 102, Indian Creek High School, 803 Indian Meadows Drive, Trafalgar.
To qualify:
- You must be a student or have a student attending Nineveh-Hensley-Jackson United School Corp.
- You must provide photo ID.
- You are limited to one visit per month, unless otherwise noted.
- There are no income restrictions. The pantry is open to all employees, students and families in the school district.
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