OSAWATOMIE – What started out as a small attempt to raise awareness and to give back to the community may possibly extend into the future, becoming an annual tradition. Students of the Osawatomie High School hosted a dinner Feb. 16, raising $1,000 for the Osawatomie Food Pantry on Sixth Street.
The dinner, catered by members of OHS’s Kansas Association for Youth (KAY), was prepared by students of the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) class, who cooked chili. Vegetable soup was also provided for those who were observing Lent or who preferred a meatless dish.
OHS art teacher and KAY sponsor Patty Trull said it was a good way to bring the various school groups together in a worthwhile endeavor.
Drawing inspiration from the “Empty Bowls” movement, OHS art students created the bowls used in the fundraiser. Those attending the fundraiser paid for the bowl, and the bowls were filled with the meal of choice. After the fundraiser, the attendees were allowed to take their bowls, which were also works of art, home with them.
“The whole idea of Empty Bowls is to fight hunger,” Trull said. “So, we decided to make the food pantry the recipient.”
She said they had a great attendance and were very pleased with the results. Students raised about $900 from the dinner, with OHS’s KAY pitching in the last $100. In addition, the leftover chili was donated to the food pantry for the pantry’s homeless program overseen by John Snyder.
On Friday, Mark Marquez, operations manager of the food pantry, was at the school to accept the check.
“I think it was a great idea, and I think it’ll probably be even bigger if they decide to do it again next year,” he said. “I was surprised by how much they sold.”
The money will go a long way toward providing for families of Osawatomie and the surrounding areas. Osawatomie Food Pantry is a client-choice pantry affiliated with Harvesters.
That means for every $1 donated, $3 worth of food can be purchased.
The pantry is open from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. the first four Wednesdays every month and from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. the fourth Saturday of every month.
The regular program at the pantry services Osawatomie, Lane, Parker, Fontana and Rantoul. Additionally, the pantry offers a countywide program called the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program, better known as Commodities.
Other programs include the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Senior Box program, which provides seniors, 65 and older, with pre-packaged meals containing about 40 pounds of food as well as the homeless program overseen by Snyder.
All together, the pantry helps provide between 12,000 to 14,000 pounds of food to the community and surrounding areas monthly.
The associated costs of the OHS fundraiser was paid for by OHS’s KAY, and of the money raised, 100 percent was donated to the Osawatomie Food Pantry.
Trull said while she’s not sure what the future will bring, there is a possibility that they will do a similar fundraiser next school year.
