Shiloh Christian High School juniors organize food drive for Parson Hills Elementary students
A group of juniors at Shiloh Christian High School has launched a food drive to support students at Parson Hills Elementary who may struggle to access meals during the summer.
The initiative began as part of an impact project through the Chick-fil-A Leaders Academy, where students work to address unmet needs within their community.
During their impact day, Shiloh Christian juniors involved in the program split into groups and served nearly 18 first responder locations, six elementary schools, and six nursing homes throughout the area. But for one group, a single day of service did not feel like enough.
“My group, which visited this elementary school on the east side of Springdale, really felt impacted by some of the stories that they heard and the needs that they saw, specifically the food instability at the school, and so we decided to try and continue helping support the school,” Lauren Eoff, a teacher and CLA sponsor at Shiloh Christian, said.
Over the past three weeks, students have collected around 3,500 food items and plan to continue gathering donations through the end of the school year. Their first delivery to the school is scheduled for May 13.
“It was really encouraging to see how everyone in the school stepped up to help and donate food. It’s also been amazing watching everyone unite around one project,” Faith Pennington, a junior at Shiloh Christian, said. “I think it proves that even though we’re all different, we can still come together for one cause, and it’s an important cause to help make sure kids have food.”
David Bowerman, one of the students leading the food drive, said he hopes to establish a 501(c)(3) nonprofit this summer so the effort to provide food for students in need can continue. Eoff said several students involved in the food drive plan to serve on the board of the future nonprofit.
“Here, we’re in a very unique situation, and we’ve been blessed. I’ve been very blessed, and I want to give that back to my community,” Bowerman said. “Our mission statement here is to develop godly leaders, to engage our culture, and change it. And that’s what I want to do. I want to engage my culture and change it for the better.”
People who want to help can donate money or nonperishable food items to Shiloh Christian through its partnership with Feed Their Future. Donations will be accepted through May 20.