A�little girl in�a bright yellow princess dress held her mother�s hand as they crossed the parking lot at James Love Elementary School.
The two headed to the open doorway leading to the school�s multipurpose room which, starting Tuesday, has been transformed into a food pantry. The school�s staff and its students� families are able to fill up bags of food in an effort to alleviate hunger and need. There are shelves loaded down with boxes of cereal, packages of cookies and canned fruits and vegetables. Numbers hang above the racks letting families know how many items they can take from each section.
The criteria is simple. Write down your name on a sign-in sheet along with the number of people in your family for data and inventory purposes, and fill up your bag. There is no application process or questions to answer.
Kim Kepner, principal of James Love Elementary, said Partnership for Community Prosperity, Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina and Washington Outreach Ministry all partnered with the Cleveland County School System to create, implement and support the pantry.
�It�s everybody working together,� Kepner said.
Second Harvest and Washington Outreach are providing the food and are going to continue to keep the pantry stocked throughout the year.
�We�re the orchestrator of it,� said Frances Webber, executive director of Washington Outreach.
She said they operate an emergency food pantry in Waco but wanted to do more.
�We had a discussion on how to partner with groups in Cleveland County to meet hunger needs,� Webber said.
They will be sharing their expertise at James Love and Graham Elementary to get the programs off the ground.
�We�re excited to be in partnership with Cleveland County to make a difference,� Webber said.
The school also works closely with North Shelby School, and Kepner said students from the school volunteered to unload food donations and will be working at the pantry during its open hours.
Right now, food is designated just for the students, families and staff at James Love and North Shelby schools, but it could expand to include the community in the future.
�We�re trying our schools first and if it works out well, then we�ll invite Cleveland County people in,� Kepner said.
The project is starting small but dreaming big.
�It may end up being once a week, just play it out and see how it goes,� Kepner said. �We�re fulfilling a need that we�ve found in the community. This is just the beginning of it.�
Next month, Graham Elementary will be starting its own food pantry.
Kepner said local churches offer valuable support to the school through food bags for students, but it is limited.
�This is open to everybody,� she said. �That�s a really good way we can work together with the community and the school system.�
She said currently both�James Love and future Graham Elementary will be open once a month during set time frames. James Love is open from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
�I�m just grateful for the opportunity we can do this,� Kepner said.
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