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Leon County neighbor launches initiative to combat food insecurity among students
News Update

Leon County neighbor launches initiative to combat food insecurity among students

  • A northeast Tallahassee neighbor is already thinking about Thanksgiving and is asking other neighbors to collect nonperishable food items for Leon County students.
  • This begins at the beginning of the school year in order to increase the number of donations.
  • Watch the video to learn what other needs the school district currently has.

TRANSCRIPT OF THE MESSAGE:

Data from Feeding Florida shows that more than 34,000 residents in Leon County suffer from food insecurity.

Since school starts on Monday, neighbors are already thinking about helping feed the students in the fall.

Neighbor Kelly Vinson wants to help students and families suffering from hunger stock up on food for Thanksgiving.

With the start of the new school year, their “Blessing Baskets” initiative also starts.

She’s asking her neighbors to put together boxes of non-perishable Thanksgiving meals, such as canned cranberry sauce and stuffing mix.

She did this last year and is now expanding her donations from three to six schools.

The former Ruediger Elementary School teacher wants to collect 100 baskets to distribute to elementary school students to combat the stigma of food insecurity at a young age.

“As a teacher, I know there are stereotypes and that as children get older, they become uncomfortable with being food insecure,” Vinson said. “It helps to start in elementary school and have guidance counselors assess needs.”

I went to see Kelli Walker, volunteer coordinator for Leon County Schools, to see what the school district needed before the school year.

She said they need mentors to support students throughout the school year and donations of school supplies.

Walker said she is confident our community will do its part.

“We in Tallahassee are very fortunate to live in a community whose residents continually want to be involved in our school system,” Walker said.

You can drop off baskets on November 18 and 19 at Keller Williams, 1520 Killearn Center Blvd.

If you would like to create your own basket and donate to a student, click here. To register as a volunteer with Leon County Schools, go to this website.

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