Keeping students fed

For the past year, Creston Middle School students have been had numerous opportunities for free snacks thanks to a food pantry run by the school.

After noticing the amount of students going hungry throughout the day, staff devised a plan to start providing food for the kids while at school. Middle school principal Lesa Downing asked educator Karen Stover if she’d be willing to run the program, which Stover immediately agreed.

“They get a morning snack and an afternoon snack,” Stover said. “I also have bags ready to go home with the kids at night. I usually have about 10 ready to go that the kids can just grab and go.”

The food available is provided by the Food Bank of Iowa, with Stover specifically choosing the healthier items for snacks.

“I try to get fresh fruits every month. I don’t have any call on what’s on there to order, but the things the kids love are apples, and I get salami and crackers,” Stover said. “I do fruit snacks. This last fall I was able to get peaches in, grapes were a big hit. I try to keep them healthy snacks.”

Food to be taken home is put together based on different meals, such as tacos.

“I get the taco meat, I get the cheese, I get the shells, so if they say, hey, I have to make supper tonight for my sibling, I try to have that stuff ready for them. They can go home and have taco night,” Stover said.

In addition to the food, a number of hygiene products are available for the students as well, including deodorant, soap, feminine hygiene products and toothbrushes.

“What the parents don’t realize, or they do and they can’t financially do it, kids need hygiene products at home but they also need them in their gym lockers and school bags,” Stover said. “By the time the kids leave it’s 6 a.m. and they’re not home until 9 or 10 at night with sports, so they need all that stuff with them, plus they need it at home.”

All of this will be housed in a new location in the coming school year. Previously held in Stover’s classroom, the pantry will have its own room. This will come in handy, as the school was awarded a grant to purchase two new freezer/fridge units.

“I just got an Alliant grant through our Food Bank of Iowa, so I was able to get two refrigerators,” Stover said. “They can switch from a refrigerator to a freezer, which is a blessing.”

The school had also received a grant for hygiene products just after spring break, but the money has almost been completely spent.

“We got a grant last year for $1,000 and three-fourths of it is already gone,” Stover said. “We can always take donations for personal hygiene products.”

The whole endeavor has gone well with the middle school and will be expanding to the elementary school this year. Additionally, Stover said they’ve had no issues with stigma.

“They’re not embarrassed to come in and get food. Nobody’s going hungry at all,” Stover said. “If they come in in the morning and they’re starved, teachers will send them to me. They know we care about them and they know they can have a snack when needed.”