Iron County Schools Launch Food Drive To Help Hungry Students And Families
The Iron County School District is asking residents to look through their pantries and bring out those extra cans of vegetables, boxes of pasta and other non-perishable food items as it prepares for the holiday season and an increasing demand for assistance.
Shauana Lund, communications director for the district, and Tracy Womack, the district’s student and family support mentor, discussed the effort during an appearance on the Big Picture Morning Show on KSUB radio. The district-wide food drive runs October 23 through October 30, with donations accepted at any Iron County School District school.
The need is substantial. Womack oversees assistance for students experiencing homelessness and other at-risk circumstances. She said the district currently has 320 students who qualify as homeless under the federal McKinney-Vento program.
School Food Pantry Helps Students And Families
The district’s food pantry offers families food, clothing, shoes, backpacks and school supplies. The demand for groceries alone is significant. “In fact, in September, we helped 509 students and their families with food,” Womack said. “And then we also gave out 5,013 snacks to the schools.”
Lund said the district is launching the drive as its food pantry supplies have dwindled just as the holidays approach.
“We have found that our food pantry is probably more bare than it has been in a year or so,” Lund said. The district relies on those supplies to assemble holiday food boxes for families.
Womack said the boxes typically include a ham and basic groceries such as canned vegetables, rice, macaroni and cheese, ravioli, and spaghetti with sauce. She credited the Utah Food Bank with helping the district provide assistance and said the Iron County Board of Realtors also partners with the district by purchasing part of the food for holiday boxes and helping deliver them.
Community members can drop off non-perishable food at any district school. Donations should be reasonably current; Womack said items a few months or even a year past their best-by dates may be accepted, but food several years beyond its date should be avoided.
Those who prefer to make a financial contribution can watch for a donation QR code on the district website, irondistrict.org. Lund said contributions will go through the district foundation and be set aside for this purpose.
The district hopes the drive will collect enough to replenish its pantry and possibly share extra supplies with Care & Share and other community organizations.
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The main pantry is located at the district’s teen center near Cedar High School. Pantry hours for families are generally Thursdays from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Get all the details of the food drive buy listening to the interview with Lund and Womack in the podcast below.
15 Things Your Local Food Pantry Needs Right Now
Gallery Credit: Brett Alan
