What do students need most, and how can we help them secure those items? Those are the questions that have been posed by this year’s Claysburg-Kimmel FBLA Community Service Project team. Led by project leads Emma Kelly, Isabella Paris, and Alexys Tomlinson, CK FBLA has undertaken a large three-part initiative to help bridge the gap between what students have and what students need. The first two parts of the project deal with food. First, the chapter is working to expand the current weekend backpack program by offering food to families during the week, as well as to the entire family, not just the CK student. The second food part revolves around how to prepare food. The chapter will be hosting cooking classes and providing recipe cards for those wanting to learn basic skills in the kitchen.
The final part of the project revolves around hygiene insecurity. Many school-aged students lack basic hygiene products, which can lead to anything from lack of confidence to a drop in school performance. Through this project, hygiene lockers will be created at both the elementary and high school, that will allow students to secure needed hygiene items, without any stigma or embarrassment.
To stock the hygiene lockers and our food pantry, the chapter kicked off the project by hosting a collection drive during the homecoming football game on October 16th. Throughout the night, 353 items were collected, which is a great start to the project! The CSP team is also working with local corporations, small businesses, and churches to secure needed items and grants to keep the project running throughout the year. We know this is a large undertaking, but ultimately, we are trying to be “Hands of Hope” to our community.