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Beginning in the 2021-2022 school year, three students opened the Food For Thought program, which is a food pantry for Rockbridge County High School students and their families to utilize.
The student-led pantry has remained open for the 2022-2023 school year, and has officially begun taking food orders. Currently, the food pantry is maintained by juniors Lee Carter and Madison Poulsen, and seniors Gianna McKeeman and Kate Straub.
The goal of the food pantry is to provide students and their families an anonymous way to pick up food items if they are in need. In addition to the food pantry, the Food For Thought program also provides formal attire and clothing for students to borrow for homecoming and prom dances through the “Cinderella Project.”
Food for Thought is an official 501c3 nonprofit organization that works alongside with the Parents, Teachers, and Students Association (PTSA), which has allowed Food For Thought to apply for grants. Food For Thought has also partnered with the Rockbridge Area Relief Association (RARA), and has written grants for Washington and Lee University’s Campus Kitchen program and the Rockbridge Community Health Foundation.
Students are able to place orders for items from the food pantry through an anonymous form, which allows them to pick an animal icon which will be used to identify and differentiate their bag from other orders, as well as choosing a location in the school to pick up their items. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner items can be ordered, and students can pick and choose the meals they wish to bring home.
Junior Madi Poulsen said, “With the new semester starting, we have a few new things that we plan to do to expand our knowledge and become a better known source.”
Poulsen continued, “We plan to study food justice issues, so we are more educated on the problem we are working to solve. We are going to look into how our food system contributes to poverty, study other successful food distribution models, and discuss more ways to address food justice issues within our community.”
Senior Gianna McKeeman added, “Food for Thought has many goals for the future. These include opening a Hygiene Hub, opening the clothes closet, expanding the Cinderella Project, and hopefully doing some spring learning with students.
“The Hygiene Hub will be a service where students can access a form and anonymously order hygiene products that they need,” she continued. “The clothes closet is still under production as we are trying to find a way to maximize this service to fulfill the needs of students and their families.
“The Cinderella Project is a service we did last year and will do again this year,” McKeeman said. “Students are able to fill out a form that will allow them to pick a dress from the selection we have during prom and homecoming season. We have plans of olive branching a ‘Prince Charming’ program where students who want to wear male formal attire are able to do so. However, our stock of plus-size dresses and suits is slim and we are working towards solving this problem with the help of the community.”
If a student wishes to place an order or view the available food options, he or she should visit the Rockbridge County High School webpage, and select the “Food for Thought” link at the left of the bottom page.
For more information, contact foodforthoughtrchs@gmail. com.
