With the federal government released from limbo on Wednesday after the 43-day shutdown, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits are set to be released to Texans within three days. Around 3.5 million Texas residents rely on the SNAP program for food.
“[Food insecurity is] a real concern everywhere– in my class, too,” Lifetime Nutrition and Wellness teacher Keli McCabe said. “How can someone learn when they’re hungry? Or when you’re thirsty? You can’t think about anything else. You’re fatigued. You’re tired. So imagine trying to learn calculus.”
Students age 18-22 voluntarily run the LISD Backpack Food Program under Student Charities board member and 18+ teacher Debbie Guana. The program provides 157 bags of food weekly, each including a items for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as snacks.
“There are people out there that are struggling,” Guana said. “And it’s no fault of their own– they’ve just found themselves in situations where they’re just not able to get everything that they need. And students, especially students in school, if they don’t eat, and they don’t learn, they’re tired, they’re cranky. There’s more discipline problems with them. In order for kids to learn and to feel safe and we need to help them at this point in the game.”
The completely voluntary program is staffed by students with disabilities. As community volunteer Karen Faulkner said, the program “gives our students the opportunity to learn valuable life skills and invest in a brighter future.”
“Our students have been given so much by our community and their schools throughout their lives,” Guana said. “And so I try to teach them to help others as much as you’ve been helped. They learn job skills, teamwork, social skills. It’s more an authentic learning. But then it also helps them to support the community that supported them.”
In a typical year, the number of students serviced by the program remains steady as families move in and out of the district. With SNAP benefits not yet released, Student Charities is open for monetary donations to buy food with.
“The need for us has increased right about this time as SNAP was threatened to to be gone or had been cut in half,” Guana said. “Time will tell when it will come back, right? But so our numbers did increase. I don’t think they’re gonna I think they’ll go down.”
Families under any circumstances are welcome to collect donations at the Leander Church of Christ’s Brighter Days food pantry. Clients must fill out a form with their needs prior to picking up items; the pantry is open every Wednesday and is always looking for volunteers.
“I’ve volunteered four times,” community member Kaylee Williams said. “I volunteer with my youth group through The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We’re required to volunteer somewhere, but the Food Pantry is really fun– I wanted to come again. There are always different people distributing the food. But everyone’s really nice. [We provide] a great service.”
The accessibility of Brighter Days encourages students from all extracurriculars to volunteer.
“I do plan to keep volunteering at Brighter Days when I’m in college, just like my upperclassmen before me– they come back in the summer to volunteer,” Senior and ROTC Cadet Colonel Emma Vaughan said. Vaughan volunteers almost weekly. “I plan to keep that tradition alive…It’s a small thing now, but maybe one day it could be a bigger thing in the future. I would love to do something like that [in my life]. Their environment is definitely very catchy and I see myself running an organization similar to Brighter Days.”
With their conveyer belt-style deliver service, Brighter Days food pantry services an average of 240 families per month.
“Everyone plays their role– front of house and back of house,” Vaughan said. “If you go through the food pantry and you get food from us, you’ll see people running the carts. There are also there are people who put the canned-foods in the carts, there are people who put the produce in the carts. There are people in the back trying to get stuff from the freezer. It puts into perspective how if everyone performs their job well, you’ll have really good results.”
McCabe compares the human body to a car. As they run out of proteins, vitamins, and minerals– or “gas”– the body begins to shut down.
“Nutrition is what keeps us healthy– if you’re not getting your vitamins and minerals in your foods, and even if you aren’t necessarily hurting too find food, you’re not getting what your body needs,” McCabe said. “It’s going to affect attendance, which is going to affect your grades. [I try to teach] my students how to… be defensive before happens. It’s like keeping your car full of gas.”
