Windham – Windham School’s Student Food Pantry is in the top 200 for a $25,000 State Farm Neighborhood Assist Grant. The application was submitted by Crystal Hickman. On the application, Hickman stated, that the student food pantry focuses on meeting the needs of the students. They knew the kids had two meals a day during the week because they are fed at school, but they are unsure if they were eating on the weekends. She also said, the community no longer has a grocery store, and many don’t have the transportation to get to a store, making groceries hard to come by for some. They just felt they needed to assist students in need, so the food pantry was started in 2018. The food pantry is supported through donations from individuals, groups, organizations and such. They are partners with Windham Bible Church and the Akron-Canton Food Bank.
The idea of the student pantry was to help students who might not have enough food to eat when they are not in school. The pantry allows the students to shop on Fridays and choose what they like and take home for the weekend, that way they will get meals that they’ll enjoy. However, due to COVID, they now make weekend bags up for the students and hand them out.
The pantry needs the community’s help in order to receive the grant. They need the community to vote for them. The top 40 vote getters will receive a $25,000 grant. In order to vote, one will need to be a U.S resident, who is 18 years of age or older and have a valid email address. Then, one will need to register one time at www.neighborhoodassist.com. Once registered, one can vote up to 10 times a day. The voting starts at 12:01am EST (Eastern Standard Time) on September 23, and ends October 2, 2020 at 11:59pm EST. A leader board will be posted during 9 of the 10 day voting period but will be taken down October 1, 2020 at 11:59 EST. They are taking the leader board down during the last 24 hours to eliminate confusion over who the top 40 are even though voting will still be going on. They assure everyone that those votes will be counted.
The food pantry plans to use the money to expand their pantry to the elementary school, while continuing to provide nutritious meals for those they already serve.
Each year, State Farm Neighborhood Assist offers 40 grants to groups who are trying to better their community. They only accept 2000 applications across the United States, then narrow it to 200. They put the 200 causes up on the internet allowing people to vote on them. The top 40 vote getters are awarded the grant.
So let’s rally together, virtually, of course, and help your neighbors by voting. Let’s get it done, and vote, vote, vote! www.neighborhoodassist.com
