A group of teens in Sultan is working to make sure their classmates in need have enough food to eat.
The Sky Valley Youth Coalition installed food pantries at the middle and high schools in Sultan where more than half the students receive free or reduced-price lunches.
"They can eat at school during the week, but on the weekend they may not have breakfast, lunch, and dinner," said coalition youth coordinator Ruth Shapovalov. "You can't expect a kid to do well in school when they come to school hungry or over the weekend."
The kids decided that hunger was the biggest problem they could solve for their peers. Many of those involved in the project have also gone without food at some point.
"When I was a little kid, we didn't have much food. I knew what it felt like to be hungry. I don't want other kids to feel hungry," said coalition member Ronaldo Rico.
Teachers hand out tickets to visit the school pantries. The food is bagged up, making it easy to grab and go. Each bag contains six meals and some snacks to last the weekend.
KING 5 visited the food storage area in September. On that day, the teens were sorting donated food into sections (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and other). The snack section was well stocked, but there was a need for more dinner and lunch foods.
The coalition started the project from scratch. Members organized several food drives at local grocery stores and put on a chili cook-off fundraiser in January.
"That's where our big bulk of the money came in at first," Shapovalov said.
The teens also earned a $5,000 grant in a national program called Lead2Feed, a project-based initiative aimed at bettering communities.
"That feeds right back into our program, and that's how it's able to keep going," Shapovalov said.
Between April and June 2018, the kids bagged up and delivered about 400 weekend packs. This school year, the goal is much higher.
"The middle school alone wants us to pack 200 of these weekend packs a week. So they're working at it again. We have another food drive scheduled. We have more fundraisers scheduled," Shapovalov said.
The kids say they've forged close friendships in the group and enjoy working together toward a common goal.
The Sky Valley Youth Coalition is seeking donations to fill their food pantries. You can reach out to the group through their Facebook page.
