The statistics on food insecurity in Sampson County make it quite clear that hunger is an ongoing problem. According to the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina, there are 3,350 children in the county facing hunger every day, while 10,959 are in economically disadvantaged households. To help combat those staggering numbers, Sampson County Schools has stepped up to the plate.
“Sampson County Schools is committed to ensuring no child goes hungry,” said Alicia Leach, Community Schools district liaison and assistant principal at Lakewood High School.
In addition to providing free breakfast and lunch for all students in the SCS system and participating in the Backpack Buddies program, which provides backpacks of food to students on the weekends, schools in the Lakewood District have taken it a step further, offering family resource centers (FRCs), which include on-campus food pantries, clothing closets, personal hygiene items, and assistance in crises situations. There is also internet access, if parents or high school students need to get online to search for jobs or do homework and research.
While the food pantry at Lakewood High has been in place for two to three years, Leach said that being under the Community Schools umbrella allows access to further resources, like frozen and refrigerated food items, as opposed to just non-perishable goods. The Community Schools Continuum is new to Sampson this year, and increases the resources available to students and families in need. “The Community Schools framework does more than provide food — it creates a safety net,” Leach explained. “Families can count on schools not only as centers for learning but also as resource hubs, connecting them with local partners, healthcare providers, and agencies that meet immediate needs.”
For example, Leach and LHS Community Schools Coordinator Wilson Simpson are working to bring a dental bus and vision van to the school to help students throughout the district with needs that may not have been addressed before.
“We are here to help students, parents and teachers with whatever they may need,” Leach stated.
Simpson also plans to offer classes to parents on healthy eating and meal preparation to help further meet their needs at home. Though the high school’s FRC has only been in place a few months, Simpson said he has already seen students in need take advantage of the services it provides. “Long-term, we hope to have food pantries and closets at every school,” he said. “We just want to help them get what they need.”
Students are allowed to come to FRC during school hours and pick up whatever they may need. “We don’t have a standard for how much families can take, but we may have it where they just fill a plastic grocery bag or one of those paper bags, and take whatever they can carry,” Simpson said.
Families who use the FRCs do not have to meet any requirements, and do not need to leave their name with the Community Schools coordinators, Leach pointed out. Each school has its own system for tracking how much food is taken, and what items may be moving faster than others.
“I think overall, hunger is a very big problem in Sampson County,” said Salemburg Elementary Community Schools Coordinator Mikasa Melvin. “It’s one of those things people don’t really want to talk about. When you’re not able to get food or you don’t know where your next meal is coming from, it brings on despair. We’re here to help alleviate some of that despair.”
Melvin’s FRC has cozy couches and chairs, toys for children, laptops for adults and name-brand foods in the pantry. “I want them to have what they want, not generic brands that are just a few cents less,” he explained.
At Roseboro-Salemburg Middle School, Community Schools Coordinator Camille Logan is building her FRC as well, and plans to have a ribbon cutting in December. She already has a mini-food pantry, as well as personal hygiene products, period packages for female students, household items and even free books. “They can just grab a bag and come in and get whatever they need,” Logan said. “We’ve been getting donations. The community has really been coming through for us.”
“The Community Schools framework does more than provide food — it creates a safety net,” said Leach. “Through these combined efforts, Sampson County Schools continues to live out its commitment: every child, every day, supported and nourished — both academically and personally.”