When A Middle School In Minneapolis Asked For Food Donations, The Community's Response Was Overwhelming
Last week, a middle school in Minneapolis requested 85 meal kits for students in need. When the community responded, a line of cars dropping off donations stretched 14 blocks long, resulting in thousands of donations.
Sanford Middle School is located just three blocks from Minneapolis' 3rd precinct police station. When surrounding grocery and convenience stores were destroyed in the aftermath of the ongoing national protests happening in response to the murder of George Floyd, the school reached out to its community for help.
Know the story of the loaves and fishes?
Minneapolis’ Sanford Middle School asked for 85 bags of groceries to feed students. There are at least several thousand. And traffic is stacked in every direction for blocks. (The extra will go to food shelves.) pic.twitter.com/oxh6o1QcZo— John Bonnes (@TwinsGeek) May 31, 2020
According to Insider, a parent reached out to the school and expressed the need for food for the kids. "We had a parent that reached out to us who was checking in with other families in the community, and we heard they needed food. Due to the protests, a lot of stores are shut down and burnt down, and we have a lot of kids that don't have transportation," Sanford special education teacher Jabari Browne told the outlet.
This started at 10am. It’s hard to capture how much food has shown up to Sanford Middle School in one image. It’s astounding and I know this is happening at other places in the city too. pic.twitter.com/DZLmEIJzYR
— Evan Frost (@efrostee) May 31, 2020
From there, the school sent out an email asking the surrounding community to help, and they requested about 85 meal kits for their students. The email quickly went viral on social media, Sanford Middle School principal Amy Nelson told CBS Minnesota, and the response was more than they could have imagined.
Overwhelmed doesn’t even begin to describe the feeling. This is the turnout for a call for 80 bags of food for families who live near the 3rd Police Precinct who lost their convenient stores in the riots this week in South Minneapolis.
All donations, all volunteers. #wcco pic.twitter.com/1PzGXk1OQS— Marielle Mohs (@MarielleMohs) May 31, 2020
To be able to collect and distribute the donations properly, the school teamed up with The Sheridan Story, an organization that helps fight child hunger. People dropped off bags of nonperishable food items and other household goods like cleaning supplies and diapers. The school was so swarmed with generous with donations that Principal Nelson urged anyone in need of such items—not just members of the school community—to pick up what they need.
"The truth is, anybody here in Minneapolis that is hurting for whatever reason, should come and get food. We've got plenty. We've been overwhelmed by the grace of our community," Nelson said.
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