The state of Iowa has a population of 3.21 million people. According to the Food Bank of Iowa, 10.8% are food insecure. That is 346,680 people who do not know when their next meal will be, or whether it will fill their nutritional needs.
Mason City High School, along with many other schools, has partnered with the Food Bank of Iowa to provide a pantry for students and their families struggling to acquire nutritious food.
The Food Bank of Iowa has a program called the School Pantry Program. According to their website the mission is to provide “free, wholesome food in a location that’s comfortable and convenient for kids and their families.” The fundraising they do provides schools around Iowa with pantries that allow students to take food home to their families.
Aimee Lenth, the social worker at MCHS, has been working alongside the Food Bank of Iowa to make Mason City High School a place where students can just focus on learning.
“Our long-term goal is to support students in school by supporting their physical needs,” Lenth said.
The pantry offers students a variety of different foods including produce, rice, boxed goods, and canned goods hoping to cover all of the food groups in a student’s diet.
The process of ordering from the pantry is quite simple. Students receive an email every Monday which includes a Google form where students can place their orders. The form closes at the end of the day on Wednesday so that the items can be ordered. On Thursday, students in the Students with Unique Needs (SUN) program bag the orders as part of their class work experience during 3rd period. Privacy is a very important aspect of this process, and the student baggers have no names associated with orders. On Fridays, students can pick up their orders during the 8th period.
