Rockford Christian School students partner with the Rockford American Legion Post to gain a better understanding of hunger relief.
Twenty-six Rockford Christian School (RCS) junior high students recently participated in the Feeding America event sponsored by the Merritt Lamb American Legion Post 102 in Rockford.
Feeding America is the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity. Their mission is to feed America’s hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks and engage the country in the fight to end hunger. Each year, the Feeding America network provides food to more than 37 million low-income people facing hunger in the United States, including more than14 million children and nearly 3 million seniors. Feeding America has a network of more than 200 food banks to serve all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, securing and distributing more than 2.5 billion pounds of food and grocery products annually. Those member food banks support approximately 63,000 local charitable agencies and 70,000 programs, which provide food directly to individuals and families in need.
The teens arrived at the Post and were given a briefing on how to process the food and assist the visitors. When the Feeding America delivery arrived, the students unloaded 5,000 pounds of food from the truck. While the students worked hard unloading the food, approximately 100 families waited patiently and registered for the event. Each family received about 50 pounds of food.
The American Legion volunteers gently guided the RCS students and provided a smooth-functioning system for distribution. The students enjoyed meeting the people and talking with them on various topics.
Once all the food was distributed, the students helped the Post members tear down and clean up the facility. Many students were grateful for the opportunity to serve and conveyed how meaningful the day was for them personally.
The students involved in the Feeding America event were Julia Blanker, Drew Bouwkamp, Audrey Conrad, Lindsey Frontjes, Tristan Fuller, Andrew Holesinger, Kaitlynn Kimmel, Bailey Kolenda, Jake Melton, Nkatha Mwenda, Nathaniel Overmeyer, Beau Redfield, Austin Rumsey, Andrew Schumacher, Hannah Stimac, Zach Terpstra, and Laura Vanderhorst.
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