The St. Patrick School community rallied to pack 5,000 bags of food for children overseas

Bella Bailey

Multimedia Correspondent

Students, families, faculty and staff at St. Patrick School, Taylor Mill, were abuzz with feelings of gratitude and giving, Nov. 21, as they participated in an on-campus service project, Feed the Need. As students packed meals to send overseas, smiles filled the room while they scooped, poured and sealed 5,000 bags of food.

“They [Feed the Need] take meals mostly to third world countries. Most of the food we pack will go to Bangladesh to feed the people there. Then they take them the message of the Gospel along with the meals,” said Pam Nunnelley, principal.

Simon, sixth grader at St. Patrick School, said, “It’s an organization that helps kids get food.”

Fifth grader, May, explained that “Everyone gets a scoop of vegetables, vitamin powdered, rice and lentils. We put it in a bag and then we measure to make sure it’s 380 to 400 grams. Then we seal the bag and put it in boxes.”

Together the school community packaged enough meals “to feed a student for a whole school year,” said Mrs. Nunnelley. “I was just trying to find a way to have the kids outside of themselves and to do something for other people,” she said.

Feed the Need provided St. Patrick School with all the packing supplies, food and event management, but they could not provide the excitement and spirit the students brought.

“They’re excited about being able to do something to help other people,” said Mrs. Nunnelley. “I’m excited to see the excitement on them. Some of them, since the day we talked about doing this … they’ve been asking every day ‘when do we get to do this?’”

Tristin, a fifth-grade student, said about his experience, “I just don’t want kids feeling hungry, especially in the wintertime when they can’t grow crops or anything.” Tristin wants people to remember that “You’re a human and they’re human, they just have a different life than you.”