February Communion: Souper Bowl Sunday, Hastings High School Food Pantry

Data for Hastings Public Schools, published on the Nebraska Department of Education’s website, shows that 60% of Hastings Public Schools’ students qualify for free or reduced meals. What does this mean? This means that six out of every 10 students qualify for free meals or reduced price meals daily at school.

Good news in the fight against hunger: Students have breakfast and lunch at school, but what happens on weekends? Well, at the elementary level, service organizations have filled the need with a backpack program that gives kids food like peanut butter, jelly and bread to take home for them and their families to get through the weekend.

However, the need does not stop there. Many of our students face the same circumstances on weekends that elementary age students do but are unsure of where to turn for help. It is because of this that a group of HHS staff and patrons have created a food pantry here at school. Students will have access to food, hygiene products, and school supplies.

This service will be available to ANY student in need. Each week on Monday, students will complete the form during T3. Students will remain anonymous, but filling out the form will give us the number of students who will be picking up groceries and supplies. On the last day of the week, students can go to the room at the base of stairs before the locker rooms for pick up.

We are aware that students may not think they need the service on Monday, so they will click “Do Not Need.” However, if you have done this and find your circumstances have changed, you can still stop by the pantry or speak with a pantry committee member. The HHS Food Pantry will be open on the last day of each school week. We need every student to fill out the survey (link above) on Monday, so we can have an idea of how many students we can help each week.