Hunger is a daily fact of life for many people, not only in South Texas, but also across the country.
One area middle school is looking to give back to the community by handing out food to those in need.
A.C. Blunt Middle School will be hosting a community food drop today at 2103 Demory Lane in Aransas Pass starting at 3:00pm.
Students and teachers of A.C. Blunt Middle School are focused on one thing: helping hungry families in the Aransas Pass community.
“We started the food drop back in the fall,” eighth-grade science teacher Mary Steed said. “We were contacted by the Coastal Bend Food Bank, and they had an opportunity to receive food that was donated to them, and we give back to the community.”
This food drive started two months ago. Since then, they have provided more than 40,000 pounds of food and have helped more than 500 individuals from the community.
“There are still a lot of people that still have needs, whether they have been out of work due to the shutdown or out of work due to other issues,” Steed said. “We do have people that are still in need of food so we like to give back; we like getting our students involved, and letting our students see how they can be part of the community and give them a little pride in giving back.”
There are many groups organizing volunteers to do this work all across the Coastal Bend. Hunger is not isolated in just one community. It is everywhere.
“Our community was hit pretty hard with Hurricane Harvey, and there are a lot of families that are still recovering. A lot of families have needs for food,” said Steed.
If you can’t make it to the food drop, the community is always welcome to contribute to the school’s food pantry that is available to anyone in need.
“We do have a pantry in the parking lot that is filled strictly based on donations, and typically it’s donations from the teachers,” Steed said. “Sometimes we do have the community that donates food, some non-perishable and cash donations. So we try to keep that full so people do have a means for food.”
This new program shares a basic structure: each month volunteers will gather to put together bags of food. Then teachers and students will be distributing groceries to the Aransas Pass community members. The school is responsible for choosing the students to participate in the program, and parents provide consent.
For more information visit their website here.
