Brooklyn Kennedy, 15, taking on the project of stocking shelves for the first day of the Niles McKinley High School's food pantry, Monday. The pantry is expected to serve about 10 percent of the student population every day during eighth period. The new pantry has been stocked through support of the Second Harvest Food Bank and the community including Mt. Carmel and St. Demetrios churches and anonymous donors. The pantry is scheduled to operate Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through the summer.
NILES — Students at Niles McKinley High School are supporting their own through a new food pantry that will be open daily.
Taking a cue from students at Niles Middle School, the high school students, with the help of Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley and two area churches, opened their own pantry Monday, a part of which was spent stocking the shelves.
“They love it. They are very proud of what they have done so far,” said Valerie Sullivan, an intervention class teacher whose students helped prepare the pantry for its opening.
“We had a contest among the students to stock the pantry, and I was overwhelmed,” said Tracie Parry, high school principal.
The winning classroom donated more than 800 of the more than 1,000 items collected through student donations, Parry said.
The pantry will be open daily through the rest of the school year and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays in the summer.
“Our plan is to highlight an item once a month and continue to ask for donations through the community,” Parry said.
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in Niles and St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Warren as well as other donors are also helping to provide food for the pantry.
Parry said the the goal is to extend the program to include clothing donations already received as well as other items.
“The goal right now is to make sure students have enough for the night, but we also want them to take for their siblings,” said Parry, adding once the high school operation is running the plan is for students to help organize a pantry at the elementary school.
Staff will oversee the pantry for now in an effort to be sensitive to the needs of the students, Parry said, however, the students are and will be a large part of the operation.
“We depend upon them to know what the big items are, what to order,” she said.
Second Harvest Executive Director Michael Iberis and Kim Brock, agency relations and programs manager, attended the opening Monday.
Iberis said the pantries in Niles, among 12 in the tri-county area, will be joined by five more at schools in the fall.
“The concept for food pantries in the schools is growing because the need is growing,” Iberis said.
About 53 percent of students in Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties qualify for free or reduced lunches and many students and their families struggle to meet their meal needs each evening, he said.
“We take our hats off to the Niles City Schools for their efforts and good work,” Iberis said.
eearnhart@tribtoday.com
