When school is in session, the staff of Vidalia City Schools make sure the students are nourished but, in the summer, that may be a different story.
Wednesday morning, Bread of Heaven, along with other partners, held a special food distribution at J.D. Dickerson Primary School. Jennifer Stephens of Bread of Heaven:
“We are providing over 200 students with food that will help take them through the summer,” she said. “We received a special grant for this from one individual in the community. In a conversation, I mentioned what Bread of Heaven wanted to do to feed the children this summer, and the next morning, the check was placed in my hand.”
In the conversation, Stephens told the donor that she knew a teacher at the high school that would be willing to help.
“Well, I am that teacher,” Missy Owens joined in. “I’ve always lived by the motto that ‘It takes a village,’ and today, we’ve got a small village helping. We’ve got teachers, the community, parents, the VHS Dance Team, and more who are helping with this mission. We saw the mission, but we couldn’t do it without those volunteers.”
Vehicles lined up to accept the boxes of food which included fresh produce, staple goods and even sweets.
“We didn’t have all of this planned; some businesses and individuals heard about it and just showed up this morning,” Stephens explained.
Owens said she wanted to extend her appreciation to everyone who made the distribution possible, including the Vidalia City School System.
Stephens reiterates the reasons she and countless other volunteers in the community give of their time to distribute food to those in need.
“Our goal is to stop hunger in our communities, and if we can’t fully stop it, we can at least help put a halt to it.”