Another day of distance learning means another line of curbside meals.
More than one million meals have been served since schools in North East ISD closed for the remainder of the year due to the COVID-19.
“You know what you are doing is going to make a difference,” volunteer Joan Kearl said.
Kearl is the past president of the Rotary Club of San Antonio and is on the board of Snack Paks 4 Kids San Antonio, an organization that aims to curb weekend hunger for local children.
Every week she joins campus staff and other volunteers at the forefront.
“We work with the wonderful cafeteria and custodial staff to distribute snack packs alongside the meals that are being provided by the schools,” Kearl explained.
“We provide healthy snacks, high in calcium and high in protein, for children that are chronically hungry. The statistics are sobering in San Antonio. One in two don’t know if they are going to eat, not what, but if,” she said.
Throughout the school year, the organization provides a bag filled with fourteen kid-friendly snacks for students in need.
When they learned of COVID-19, they adjusted their summer distribution to meet the need now, and have dispersed nearly 20,000 weekend snack packs.
“It’s so exciting to see the kids’ faces; they are so excited to see food. The things that are in the snack pack are very healthy and also are brand names,” Kearl added.
She said the volunteers, like ones from the Rotary club of San Antonio, look for ways to serve and make a difference.
“Instead of reading about all the dreadful statistics, start focusing on all the people doing good to try to help others,” Kearl said.
It’s also a reminder that education and nutrition go hand-in-hand.
“When children don’t have enough food to eat, they don’t do well in school. So, it’s more than just food; it’s dignity, it’s consistency and it’s just a way that they realize that somebody really cares about them,” she said.
The community is thankful, and when we take care of one another, we come out stronger.
Because #NEISDcares!
Ashley Speller
aspell@neisd.net