Williams Field High School Students arrived bright and early to United Food Bank Tuesday, but they didn’t come empty handed.
“We filled an entire bus, it’s pretty cool,” said one student.
Over the past few months, students with the school's National Honor Society have collected food, water and other essentials from their community and classmates. Hoping to deliver thousands of pounds of goods ahead of the holidays.
“We try to pack the bus as tight as we can,” said Sara Jones.
Jones is the student president of the National Honor Society, she is helping motivate her classmates by providing context to their efforts.
“Letting people know that this isn’t just donating cans, it’s making sure that families can have a meal this thanksgiving have food for the holiday season, looking at that bigger picture makes people want to give,” said Jones.
It comes at a time when United Food Banks have seen a 25% increase in the need for food assistance.
“It’s just a big struggle for some many families,” said Linda Vaughan.
Vaughan has been a volunteer here for forty years.
She says Right now folks are pinching pennies on just about everything.
“Families come and they say literally we have nothing to give our family,” said Vaughan.
Heartbreaking statements that make a day like this stand out.
“When we’re helping others, it helps us kind of forget about ourselves and we’re immersed in true compassion and empathy,” said NHS student secretary Shalie Thompson.
With each pound of food able to feed a family of four, every box flowing through this assembly line of students unpacking the bus and onto several wooden pallets, is life changing.
After weighing their efforts, their ground total came out to be more than 14,000 pounds.
An incredible feat by a determined group of givers.
“The food we delivered today is going to have a huge impact and it’s a really incredible feeling,” said Thompson.