By Claire Pomer, Harwood Union correspondent
Harwood’s National Honor Society is preparing to open a school food pantry. The pantry will be stocked with basic items like food staples, basic clothes, and basic hygiene supplies.
School nurse Magge Stone, who spearheaded the effort to create a food pantry, cited Winooski High School’s food pantry as her inspiration. Called the “Necessity Store” and opened in 2022, the pantry is set up with food, clothing, and hygiene items that students and their families can take for free. “[The Necessity Store] looks almost like a mall,” Stone remarked. “There’s a clothing shop, a food pantry, and a health clinic, but what caught my eye was the food pantry and the clothing aspect.”
Harwood’s food pantry will mimic Winooski’s but will be more controlled and private. “Not a lot of people would want to admit that they have needs,” Stone said. “It’s a happy medium where students can go, have privacy, and get what they need.” The pantry will be located in a corner of the counseling office, which is already shielded from the main hallway. “We were intentional in thinking about the space,” said principal Megan McDonough, “so that students could work with school counselors and nurses to access the space.”
The establishment of this pantry also comes with this year’s budget cuts in district nurses. The Harwood 25/26 budget reduces the number of nurses from nine across seven schools to “a shared model across The Valley,” cutting two full-time nurses and affecting the ability of elementary school students in The Valley to access to necessary resources in-school.
The pantry will be run and staffed by Harwood’s National Honor Society. During Spirit Week, which takes place from May 19 to May 23, club members will host an “NHS drive” to raise money for supplies, including shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, menstrual products, canned fruit, cereal, and clothes.
Harwood will also be partnering with community organizations, like the Mad River Valley Rotary and local food shelves, to get supplies.
“In the future, I’m imagining some drives: some school-based, some community-based, and some partnering with outside organizations,” said Stone. “Schools are the epicenters of so many communities, and when people have basic needs met, they’ll be more available for learning and they’ll be more successful in school.”
An opening date for the pantry has not yet been set.
