A group of students at St. Patrick’s High School have recognized a need and are setting out to ensure no student is hungry.
Jaxon Hudie, a Grade 12 student in the business leadership class, along with three other classmates, has partnered with Lambton’s College Enactus program (a social enterprise development organization) to create Patty’s Pantry.
“We did some research at the beginning and on average in Ontario, one out of five students suffer from food insecurity. And if we compare that to our school -- which has 1,450 students -- that’s 290 students at St. Pat’s and that’s roughly 4 students per class. We have set the mission to eliminate hunger at St. Pat’s,” Hudie tells the Journal.
“It’s open and accessible to any students who need it…come on down to room 168 and grab the food,” explains Hudie. “There is frozen food too. We kind of made it so students know about it and grab it at the end of the day.”
The pantry, which started last week, has already seen a lot of use, and the group of students behind it are hard at work to keep it sustainable. This includes applying for grants and ensuring students and the community know the pantry’s benefits.
“We are always looking for local sponsors, from businesses or people and we are going to have a donor tracker list where if you donate above a certain amount, you’ll get your name in there and we will send out thank you letters and things like that so you are seen for your donation,” says Hudie.
Right now, the four Grade 12 students are running the pantry like a business, with each member taking on a share of the responsibilities including accounting, marketing, shopping, and tracking inventory.
“We’ve tried to simulate and make this project as much like a real business so it can properly sustain itself in the future,” says Hudie.
As for next year, Hudie plans to present the benefits of the pantry to Grade 11 and 10 students to find the next generation to run it.
“We have the Irish Miracle and there is a committee for that, and this will be similarly run where
students kind of get the necessary experience…so it will be a great experience for students to get that knowledge in business operations,” explains Hudie.
Those interested in helping or donating to Patty’s Pantry can email Jaxon Hudie at [email protected]