Fort Myers Christian School students pack boxes to fight food insecurity

Food insecurity is a problem in Southwest Florida. And that problem was exacerbated by the pandemic.

But, students at Fort Myers Christian School are packing more than 10,000 meals to help feed the hungry in Lee County and in Haiti.

The cowbell was ringing to celebrate the fact that students have packed and sealed those thousands of meals. 10,800 meals, to be exact.

Christopher Rosario is a 6th grader at Fort Myers Christian. “I feel very grateful and honored to help people who are hungry and who need and I’m helping them out and it just makes me feel with joy that I can help out and that they’re going to get food,” Rosario said.

These kids know the food will make a difference in the lives of thousands of families. some of the packets are too small to reach some of the items but they have big hearts and want to help.

Mel Mitchell is the principal at Fort Myers Christian School. “When you get a chance to come here and do hands-on I know that you’ve done something good for the community and the world it’s well worth it,” Mitchell said.

“Even in a tough time we can help, we can try to help them and then we can try to lead them. We can try to provide for them even in a hard situation,” Rosario said.

These students didn’t just pack boxes once and move on to the next thing. No, this is the fourth year Fort Myers Christian School has packed these meals. And, in the past four years, they’ve packed more than 40,000 meals.

“Sometimes we take it for granted that we have food and the other kids don’t get to eat at all and it’s very sad,” Rosario said.

This is just a sad reminder that sometimes, some of our neighbors do not know where their next meal will be coming from.

The fine folks at Fort Myers Christian School were hoping that their efforts would inspire others to fight food insecurity. One way to do that is by donating to Hary Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida. If you feel called to donate, you can follow this link.