A Hunger to Serve: Parrott students complete local project
Photo: (left to right) Mary Frances Fields, Haynes Lewis, and Tien Le join fellow Parrott students waiting to load food into clients’ cars at the Grifton Mission Ministries. Submitted photo.
Seventeen Parrott Academy high school students recently completed a three-day service learning project aimed at alleviating food insecurity in local communities. Designed by APA teacher and SERV advisor Leslie Lewis, the project put students to work at three sites around eastern North Carolina.
On Friday, March 19th the group traveled to Rise Up Community Farm in Wilmington which raises and donates organic seasonal produce to New Hanover County food pantries. Students prepped farm beds and harvested kale, in addition to hearing a presentation about local food deserts.
Photo: (left to right) Sorting produce at Grifton Mission Ministries helps Parrott SERV students Mary Frances Fields, Laura Fern Jones, and Killen Harper learn more about food distribution and food insecurity in eastern North Carolina.
Saturday March 20th found the group in the Rocky Mount area sorting, packaging, and delivering food with the Nash-Edgecombe Meals on Wheels program.
On Monday March 22, the students moved to Grifton Mission Ministries, sorting and packing donated foods and loading them into cars for clients of the drive-through food bank.
To help students grasp the big issues behind food insecurity, Mrs. Lewis invited Rick Kearney of Rise Against Hunger to give a presentation before the trip. After the work detail on the 22nd, students returned to campus to hear a presentation by a guest speaker from Mali who works with the Tandana Foundation to help provide food in that country’s villages.
The following students participated: Hannah Henderson, Tien Le, Claire Perry, Sofia Brantley, Haynes Lewis, Aneesha Jayaram, Kat Owsley, Mary Frances Fields, Elizabeth Norris, Rachel Norris, Marshall Taylor, Elia Movahed, Max Andrews, Morgan McPhaul, Laura Fern Jones, Killen Harper, and Hayden Blizzard. In addition to Mrs. Lewis, chaperones were Sadie Crockett, Mitzi Moye, Andy Moye, and Catherine Norris.
