HUNTSVILLE, Ala — Seeing a need and filling it: That’s exactly what some students in a second and third grade class at The Country Day School in Huntsville did. The students saw a story WZDX covered on a lack of food for families in need during the pandemic. So, they decided to help.
In September, the Huntsville Assistance Program had to cancel food pantry giveaways because of a low supply of food.
Haley Allen, a Country Day School student tells our reporter, “We heard that people ran out of money and stuff so we decided to help donate food.”
Ms. Jessica Holtcamp’s 2nd and 3rd grade class posted a video on Facebook calling for the community’s help to collect food for the Huntsville Assistance Program. But, that’s not all they did.
We spoke with second and third grade teacher, Jessica Holtcamp. She says, “We were practicing writing letters and they said ‘Hey, let’s write letters!’. I said '...okay, who do you want to write letters to?’. They decided they were going to write letters to their parents and to Publix.”
And the amount of food they were able to collect is beyond impressive.
Haley Allen tells our reporter, “We made five hundred and fifty foods.”
The class loaded 550 cans of food, filling the back of a truck. Volunteers from the Huntsville Assistance Program came to pick up the donation and tell me they just can’t believe what these students have done.
Student, Haley Allen, says, “We really felt really good about it. Everyone did. So, we really feel helpful now...”
Ms. Jessica says seeing her students put their all into this project makes her proud. She adds, “Academics are important, you have to have it for life. But, if you don’t have compassion for the community, for the people around you-- you can only go so far.” She continues, “You know, they’re seven and eight-year-olds. So, to see them think outside of themselves and outside of their personal needs and into the needs of the community and people they don’t know-- it gives me hope.”
The kids say they have a message for the families that’ll be receiving this food. Haley Allen says, “This is all your food for you guys. We love you all. Bye!”
This class says they don’t know what their next project is going to be. But, whatever it is, it’s going to come from the kids and it’s going to come from the heart.
To connect with the Huntsville Assistance Program to make a donation, click here to be directed to their website. Click here to connect with HAP on Facebook.