Team Members
Chair: Caitlyn Peacock
Members:
Patti Templeton, One Community Now
Kellie Gilmore, All Children’s HospitalAnclote High School Staff
Project Description:
Mission: Create programs aimed to help older children/teens who are food insecure.
Goal: Develop a working school pantry model that runs like a store where the students do not feel stigmatized for taking free food to help bridge the food gap over the weekend.
Objective: Implement one school store food pantry in Tampa Bay before June 2017.
Update: All of the partners met up at the high school to discuss the possibility of implementing a school pantry at Anclote High School where FRE % is near 75%. Everyone at the high school was supportive of the program and the idea is to identify a space at the high school where a pantry can be set up like a mini grocery store and have the kids from the special learning class help run the program to teach them valuable skills to help them find work after high school.
Next Steps: identify a location within the school that is easy for everyone to access at least during part of the day. Figure out if we are going to create a voucher program where each kid gets a few tickets that can be redeemed for food items from the pantry. Kellie, All Children’s, is going to provide a nutritionist to create a meal sample using items from the pantry to encourage the kids to pick the heathier options from the pantry. Caitlyn, TBNEH, is going to reach out to Volunteer Way and other Food Banks to see who may be interested in partnering with us to supply the pantry.
The Goal is to get the pantry going for the trial run by March 31, 2017.