Imagine you are back in school and you are studying for the big, midterm test that will determine whether you get a passing grade in a class. You spend hours trying to understand the math problem or the chemical formula, or the historic timeline that you know is going to be on the test. The stress is real and palpable. Does it make your palms sweat just thinking back on that?
Now, imagine the same scenario but you are hungry. Not hungry as in you forgot to grab an evening snack before hitting the books, but hungry as in you haven’t had anything except school lunch all day. Hungry as in the fact that the weekend is coming and you are not sure how you are going to get something to eat. Add to that your parent(s) is(are) rarely around due to a lifestyle choice that involves substance abuse, so you don’t have any way of going to the store to get food. Does this scenario sound bleak? Unfortunately, it is a scene that is all too common for East Bank Middle School.
During a recent trip to East Bank Middle School to meet with Nancy Kennedy, a student “resource” member of the school staff, we heard story after story similar to the scenario above. While East Bank is not the only school dealing with the ramifications home drug abuse and poverty have on students, there appears to be a very high percentage of kids struggling with this issue at this school.
“My position at the school is to work with students who need a break,” Nancy says. “This could mean they are dealing with a lot of anxiety due to their home life and they just need someone to talk to in a calming environment.”
Nancy’s room is just that. It is a dimly lit room with many fixtures and features that promote a peaceful surrounding. The kids can relax and feel safe in this space. They also have access to food if they need it.
“My goal is to try to understand the external barriers these students face that impedes their educational development. Unfortunately, there are many barriers and one of the largest is food insecurity.”
We stepped into a small room off one of the main hallways where a small shelf was setup and contained several food items.
Nancy explains the contents of the shelf, “When we have the funds, I try to restock these shelves with food items I can send home with the students as they need it. We have realized, however, that much of the food needs to be ready-to-eat options as these kids do not have the ability to prepare a meal. Many times it is because the parents are absent or incapacitated, or they lack the basic appliances like microwaves to heat any meal.”
Nancy recalls an exceptionally concerning story where a young man was excited to get a microwaved meal. “The student was eager to take the meal home as his brother had figured out how to get the power working in the living room (the only room that had power) and they could move the microwave in there to heat up the meal.”
One student confessed to Nancy the reason he was taking extra food home was to bring something to his baby brother who didn’t have access to as many food items.
Unfortunately, the stories we heard during that short visit would fill this newsletter up twice. Union Mission, however, is stepping in to help.
“These stories we heard during that tour broke my heart,” Jason Quintrell says. “The kids in this area of our community are struggling through very difficult times. How can we expect them to focus on their studies when they are battling these home issues? These kids have an emergency need for food. Union Mission has the Emergency Response Team. We are going to help them.”
During that tour, Jason presented a check to Nancy to use to purchase food immediately for these students. He also discussed other ideas on how the mission can help get food directly into the hands/mouths of these kids. We are excited to share additional details as they are nailed down in the coming weeks/months.
“We are working on a plan for East Bank,” Jason says. “We also have come to realize there are other schools in the county and surrounding counties in the same situation. We are going to need the help of our donors in a big way, but I feel confident we can get food directly to these kids.”
If you would like to help with this latest endeavor, please consider making a donation to Union Mission. You can mark it as “Food Relief” so we will be able to have even more buying power to get the food that is needed.
