The Project Vine Pantry at the regional high school began as a pilot program last year to help fight food insecurity among the student population. On Thursday, the program received a big boost from Stop & Shop’s Food Pantry Program, which provided a $12,500 donation through its School Food Pantry Program.

The grant will allow the Project Vine Pantry to run on a more consistent basis with a wider range of offerings. Since it began, the pantry has mainly focused on distributing rescued foods and is currently spearheaded by students from this year’s junior class.

“The support allows us to make sure that we have things that we know we want,” said Project Vine Pantry coordinator Dhakir Warren. “We don’t have to rely just on rescued food, which is amazing and allows us to be consistent.”

Stop & Shop also donated 100 turkeys for students and their families for Thanksgiving. On Thursday at the school, students, Stop & Shop staff members and Mr. Warren helped pack bags of food and turkeys to be distributed on Saturday, Nov. 15.

Packing food bags for those in need.

Ray Ewing

Packing food bags for those in need.

Ray Ewing

For junior Talulah Powers, the cause is personal.

“I have gone through and have seen my friends go through food insecurity, so it means a lot to me to be able to give food to people that can’t get it,” she said.

Stop & Shop’s Food Pantry Program started in 2019 and has now expanded to almost 300 schools in the Northeast. The company is proud to support the community in this way on the Island and worldwide, according to Stop & Shop external communications manager Stephanie Cunha.

“Our goal of the program is to make sure that no child should have to worry about where their next meal is coming from,” Ms. Cunha said. “We really want them to be well fed and happy, so that they can focus on their work in the classroom.”

According to Mr. Warren, the Project Vine Pantry teaches high schoolers important lessons while giving back to their community,

Gabe Plesser has his hands full.

Ray Ewing

Gabe Plesser has his hands full.

Ray Ewing

“It’s an opportunity for our students to be a part of something that is meaningful, and where they can give back and see real, tangible impact with regard,” he said. “Being able to have this as an ongoing project for students to continue to build and elevate means that we’ll be able to continue to support the community and make sure that people understand that food insecurity is real.”

For junior Gabe Plesser, compassion is the key to driving this initiative.

“Why I started helping out a lot with this is because I hate seeing people who don’t have food on their plate for these type of events or holidays, and I don’t think it’s fair,” he said.