For members of South Arbor Charter Academy’s staff, starting the day off on the right foot meant getting up bright and early to give back to their community. Every quarter throughout the year, staff members participate in South Arbor Serves Day in which the school selects an area organization that needs volunteers or resources and dedicates a day to giving back.
The South Arbor team gathered to volunteer at Kids Coalition Against Hunger (KCAH), a Michigan-based humanitarian food relief organization whose mission is to significantly reduce the number of hungry children in the USA and feed starving children throughout the world. The local nonprofit works to help fight childhood hunger locally, and globally.
“South Arbor Serves Days allows our staff and their families to get involved in our community and help give back,” said Jenny Ross, school ambassador at South Arbor. “These days not only allow us to make a difference in our community, but they also allow us to bond as a team and have fun.”
Throughout the day, volunteers from the school and across the community packaged over 20,000 meals. More than 1,000 of those meals stayed in the Ypsilanti community, and South Arbor received just over 100 meals to offer to its families that may be in need.
“It is great to have our school represented out in our community and we are helping to fight hunger too!” said Ross.
KCAH volunteers work together to package nutritious meals including the necessary proteins, carbohydrates, and vitamins needed to power a child’s body and mind. The organization has a mission of packaging more than eight million meals a year by the end of 2020.
Looking ahead to their next opportunity to give back, South Arbor staff members are headed to Food Gatherers’ warehouse in February to support their community food rescue program. Throughout the day, the volunteers will spend time sorting food, stocking their pantry, and repacking bulk items, among other tasks.