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By Michelle Wagner
Two and a half years ago, a missionary visited Duck United Methodist Church and challenged the congregation to help starving children in Zimbabwe. While parishioners Ed Hazlett and Helen Ford knew they couldn’t travel to Africa, they found a way to help hungry children right here at home.
It all began in a small, upstairs room in their church where Hazlett, Ford and a handful of fellow parishioners began a grassroots movement to feed needy school children on the weekends. Since then, the program, called Food For Thought, has been nourishing the bodies and minds of young children in need.
“We had a test group of 54 children at Manteo Elementary School,” said Hazlett. That was in the fall of 2005, but it didn’t take long before school administrators saw the value of the program and were asking for the program to be expanded to all five elementary schools in the district.
Now, less than three years later, Food For Thought provides two non-perishable breakfasts and two non-perishable lunches to nearly 400 students in Dare County Schools every week.
While getting the program off the ground took a lot of planning and organization, founders were met with an enormous amount of support in the schools and community. “Everywhere we turned, people were saying that it is a great idea and wanted to help,” said Hazlett, president of the program’s board of directors.
The program got off the ground with $8,000 in seed money from the Outer Banks Community Foundation. It has also been the recipient of grants and donations from other organizations and businesses on the Outer Banks. The bulk of the food, about 80 percent, comes at a discounted rate from Food Lion. The other 20 percent is from the Food Bank of the Albemarle, Hazlett said.
The Western Sizzlin’ has been donating oranges to the program for the last two years.
“We started very small and saw the need was obvious,” said Hazlett. “We kept hearing great things, so we expanded it.” And since then, it has grown by leaps and bounds.
There are only three other similar programs in the state, including one in the Raleigh area, Charlotte and Asheville.
The Food For Thought now operates out of a county-owned building just east of the former Manteo Middle School. The county has allowed the group to use the building free of charge as its distribution center.
Dozens of volunteers meet every Thursday to pack hundreds of breakfasts and lunches for children to take home every Friday. Once packed, volunteers deliver the bags to Dare County’s five schools.
Also included in some of the meals are toothbrushes and dental floss provided by local dentists. The Food Bank of the Albemarle also provides information on maintaining a healthy diet.
According to Lois Mary Hoehan, the board’s vice president, it cost $5.20 to feed each child every weekend.
The Food for Thought movement around the country has been slow getting started, with only a handful of counties able to sustain it. The program was spurred on here and in other areas after school administrators and teachers noticed that needy students were eating double on Mondays when they returned to school, which signaled that they were going hungry on the weekends. At school, the children receive government-funded breakfasts and lunches.
“The Food for Thought program is particularly exciting because feeding the children that may otherwise go without has an immediate impact,” said Nick Nuzzi of the Dare County Board of Education. “While the data to measure the success of this project is sure to follow, all I need to know is that some of our neediest children can fall asleep on the weekend without being hungry… Simply put, it impacts families where they are, when they need it the most.”
The volunteer turnout has been impressive, said Hoehan. “We have people from every community and congregation on the Outer Banks,” she said, but added that the group is always looking for more volunteers and donations to sustain the program.
Volunteer Jim Odom called Food For Thought one of the best causes he has ever been involved in. “There is nothing more worthwhile,” he said.
“It’s a great group and these children need food,” said Janice O’Neal, a volunteer from Mount Olivet in Manteo.
Hazlett said that although the program already serves about 360 students, the need in the community is much greater. There are currently 550 children countywide that would qualify for the program. “We are working with school administrators to get parents to sign on to the program,” he added.
Currently, Food For Thought volunteers pack meals for nine students at Kitty Hawk Elementary, 62 students at Nags Head Elementary, 51 students at First Flight Elementary, 41 at Hatteras Elementary and 142 at Manteo Elementary. They also provide weekend meals for qualifying students at the county’s Head Start program.
Volunteers also meet at the center once a month to receive food from the Food Bank, store it and set up the food for the next week’s packing.
Community members can contribute by volunteering their time, making a financial contribution or donating food, organizers say.
Food for Thought accepts donated or at-cost fresh fruits, individual entrees and single serving desserts. Also needed are in-kind services such as printing, promotional graphics, copying and other professional services.
Community members can also sponsor and feed a child for $200 a year.
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