Millions of school students suffer from food insecurity across the nation.
Nutritional deficiencies can be a monumental roadblock in the quest to educate the youth, affecting attention and behavior, causing numerous issues in and outside the classroom.
But one local school’s novel effort aims to ensure that no student is subject to such conditions.
East Stroudsburg Senior High School South’s newest venture, the Purple Pantry, recently opened its doors, providing nutritious necessities to students in need.
Gwen Jones, committee chair for the Purple Pantry, said that the program is the result of the entire community’s benevolent nature.
"It is amazing," Jones said. "Every teacher in this building, every para, every student helper, every secretary, every security guard, every custodian is under that umbrella. It’s so exciting to be able to feed a child’s mind, and we can now feed their body, and we can feed their spirits. To be able to come to school and know, ‘I was taken care of’ – won’t that make you a better human being?"
The idea originally came from Dawn Debiase, a member of a local Women of the Moose lodge.
"The Women of the Moose had a meeting, and they said they wanted to help the community," Debiase said. "I said, ‘Why don’t we get in touch with the high school to start a pantry for the students?’ and the school ran with it. The students are our future, so if we can help them learn by taking a burden away from them, that’s great. I love it."
Debiase got in touch with the high school’s nurse, Jeanne Branigan, who relayed the concept to Principal Michael Catrillo, who embraced the idea.
Concurrently, Jones said that committees were being formed in the school to address improvement initiatives. Jones requested the help of paraprofessionals and student volunteers for her committee, as they have a direct connection to the kids.
"They’re the ones on the ground – they see these kids every single day, and they can read when a kid is not feeling good and not doing their work," Jones said. "And so, what happened was, when we had our very first meeting, one of the things that they said was, ‘Can we feed the kids for the weekend? Because we see a lot of them that are hungry.’"
Jones approached teacher, community outreach chair and administrative intern Michael Healy with the idea for a pantry, and the mission took off.
"When we started this project, we reached out to some of the existing food pantries in the area, such as East Stroudsburg University and the United Methodist Church, and they were fantastic in teaching us to build the infrastructure, and what were some of the most needed items," Healy said.
To build up a good supply of pantry staples, the team reached out to numerous local agencies and businesses to establish connections.
"Everything in here has been donated," Healy said. "Every single item has been donated from our partners – Second Harvest and the Moose Lodge have been essential partners for us, and our PTO, our paraprofessionals, our support staff. This is just so much more than one person, it’s really a school-wide initiative."
Jonathan Dellacona, Vice President of Site Sales and Marketing at Wyndham Destinations, said that employees and clients at the business jumped at the chance to help those students in need.
"We’ve donated over a thousand pounds of food to this pantry and others in the community," Dellacona said. "We heard there was a need in the high school, and we’re right down the road, so employees, guests, everybody came together to embrace this opportunity."
Currently, the Purple Pantry has a great stock of carbs, vegetables, fruits and proteins, allowing them to cater to just about any dietary need.
But there was one question: how to establish a system where students could maintain their dignity and privacy when asking for help.
Healy crafted an online Google survey to make the process completely anonymous, guaranteeing that only the student, Healy, Jones and the Purple Pantry workers would know.
"Any student can access this at any time," Healy said. "It’s on our South High School website, and the results only go to myself and Gwen Jones. That is sent to our email, and then we have a spreadsheet where students are called down on a Thursday or Friday, where our paraprofessionals, our support staff as well as our PTO organization have bags packed and engage with the students and give them what they need for the weekend."
On the ground floor, those PTO members and support staff members are some of the most vital parts of the Purple Pantry.
"We stock the shelves, we make sure nothing is expired, we hand food out to the kids on Friday," PTO member Audry Garrett said. "Whatever they need, we’re pretty much the go-to."
Paraprofessional Jane Fetherman said that the pantry is a natural fit for the support staff, who would often help students in need before the establishment of the institution.
"We see these kids day to day," Fetherman said. "We see how they act in class, we see that they’re tired, we see that they’re hungry. They’ll come in and ask us, ‘Do you have any food?’ All of us usually have crackers or something else available so we can give them something to eat, because we know that they’re hungry. If you’re not well nutritionally, you can’t perform."
Healy said that while the Purple Pantry has a good stock at the moment, they will certainly be in need of more contributions throughout the year. Staples like cereal, sauces, canned meats, peanut butter, pancake mix and other necessities can be dropped off at the school office from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Having already assisted more than 20 students since the operation’s soft opening, all those involved with the Purple Pantry are looking toward a bright future where the youth of East Stroudsburg Senior High School South can count on having both their minds and bodies fed.
"When you see the faces on the children when you pack their bag of goods to take home, as relieved as they are that they have food, it makes us twice as happy," paraprofessional Debra Shortino said. "It’s so fulfilling. It’s a godsend, a blessing."
