Snacks from Interact’s snack pantry. Photo by Lana McIlvaine
This year Durham Public Schools are providing free breakfast and lunch for all students. And for the second year in a row, Riverside’s Interact Club is providing dinners for students facing food insecurity.
Students without steady dinners can pick up a bag full of non-perishable dinner foods to bring home after school. In the 2023-2024 school year, 51% of Riverside students qualified for free or reduced lunch. The food pantry targets students that qualify for free lunch, but is unable to confirm who picks up meals due to the anonymous system used.
Riverside’s Interact club, the high school version of Rotary International, is a service club that completes different projects over the course of the school year. One of the most popular projects is the Purple Pinky Day Project, where students donate money to fundraise for polio vaccinations for children in the middle east. Students who donate get their pinky dyed purple to symbolize the children who receive the vaccination.
For this project, however, the impact is closer to home.
The food pantry project is Interact’s current focus. Google Forms are sent out to Riverside teachers, who ask students whether or not they need dinners during the school week. QR codes are posted in various places across the school.
“We’re providing [the food] throughout the entire year,” says Interact co-president Kate Bakelaar. “Teachers or students can fill out the form if they want snacks or meals throughout the day.”
The Google Forms are returned with the teacher’s room number and the number of students who need dinners. All students remain anonymous under Interact’s system.
With funding from Rotary, club leaders ventured out to Sam’s Club to purchase thousands of dollars worth of non-perishable food. Club members package nutritional bags full of food, and the bags are delivered to teachers.
Although Interact’s system appears well-oiled, we are always looking to make it better.
Right now, more teachers and students need to fill out the forms. This will ensure that every single student who needs the dinner or snack bags is able to receive it. More bags are being delivered than last year, but it still does not match the demonstrated need from students.
As we approach a long break from school, food insecurity becomes a more serious issue for kids who rely on school for steady meals. Help me spread the word about Interact’s resources so our community can have what it needs.
Eligible students: Any Riverside student
How to receive food: Tell your teacher to sign up through Interact’s Google Form or contact Interact’s teacher advisor Mr. Kemp at daniel_kemp@dpsnc.net
