A surprise is waiting for Habersham Central High School students for their first day back in class: a free food pantry.
The pantry was built in collaboration between the Habersham County School System and nonprofits Habersham Family Connections and the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia. Annie Branum, a food access coordinator with the food bank, approached administrators last year to bring this idea to life, according to Leenman. With the help of Habersham Family Connections Executive Director Mercedes Ledford-Weaver and Jennifer Reagan, along with Habersham Central High School Principal Dr. Adam Bagwell, that vision has finally come to fruition and is ready for students at the start of the school year this week.
Habersham Family Connections, a nonprofit aiming to ensure Habersham County families and students thrive, is led by Ledford-Weaver. She said when Leenman approached her and Reagan about the project, they immediately said yes.
“We know that food insecurity is a rising issue in our area and wanted to make sure more families have access to free food,” Ledford-Weaver said. “We know that students do so much better in school when their basic needs are met, so we were grateful for the opportunity to work with the schools to meet this need.”
The new food pantry is at the entrance where the Habersham County Schools Police Department used to be, though school resource officers will still occupy the office next door. Ledford-Weaver and Reagan have been spending the summer stocking the space floor-to-ceiling with both snacks and nonperishables, like canned goods. A fridge and freezer will be available to students for both beverages and take-home meals. A table has been set up for non-food items students may also take, like socks, feminine hygiene products and tissues.
All is being paid for through Habersham Family Connections, Ledford-Weaver said, but they plan to seek business partnerships to sponsor food costs and may seek grants after they observe how students utilize the pantry.
The best part? Everything is completely free for any student, regardless of reason or need.
According to Habersham Central High School Principal Dr. Adam Bagwell, Leenman also approached him in early summer to start a new initiative at the high school, and that a space would be needed. Students would need easy access to the pantry in a high-traffic area that could be easily supervised. Eventually, they decided on the police department entrance and began bringing in food and storage with the help of Ledford-Weaver and Reagan to prepare for students’ return.
Habersham Central High School is the largest school in the system, where students from the three middle schools finally converge into one student body, totaling an estimated 1,200 kids in the classrooms. It’s one of the reasons Bagwell believes administrators decided to begin this new initiative at the high school.
However, he also said older students are less likely to ask for help if they’re facing food insecurity, something he witnessed first-hand while he was principal at North Habersham Middle School. It’s why they began allowing middle school students to carry donated food in their backpacks during his tenure there.
“By opening this up and making it available to all students, the idea is that there’s not gonna be any kind of way to distinguish between the students who are coming in here to get food because it’s free food, and they just want some free food because they want a snack, versus the students who are coming in here to get food because they really need food to take home to help support their families,” Bagwell said.
It means the school will not be keeping tabs on which students come to the pantry, as there will be no sign-up sheet. However, a poster will hang on the pantry’s wall with a phone number that students who are experiencing food insecurity can text or call. It allows students to seek help more discreetly, if they choose.
Ledford-Weaver said that having the food pantry near the entrance of the high school helps to remove barriers to resources, especially for students and families struggling to afford food. The two biggest barriers are transportation and parents working during the times resources are available.
“By offering the free food mart within the school system, we are able to meet families where they are,” she said. “If a student is already coming to school, there is no reason they can’t pick up a snack or grab a few items for home.”
Leenman, who has been on the administrative end of this project, said that he feels the food bank aligns with the school system’s “whole student” approach, meaning that the school system wishes to foster the needs of students beyond academic learning.
“This will help us continue to meet the needs of students at Habersham Central and will help us see where we can expand,” Leenman said.
For Bagwell, the food pantry is a positive addition to the school, offering a way for students to continue to be successful by offering a snack between classes or a meal to take home. It’s difficult for students to learn when they’re hungry, he said.
“I think it’s really important that we do everything that we can to make sure our students have whatever they need to be successful. And I use that word broadly, whatever that means for them,” Bagwell said. “Our job is academic success, but we want to make sure we’re taking care of our kids’ needs where we can, whether it’s food needs or if it’s mental health services or social worker services or anything else that our school or our school system can provide. It’s hard for a kid to learn when they’re hungry, obviously, and so we just want to make sure that we give our students every opportunity to get whatever they need so that they can be successful. … If it helps one kid, it’s worth doing.”