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NEEDS:
The Lewisville Independent School District's Central Zone feeder pattern culminates with the following three high schools: Lewisville High School, Killough High School, and Harmon High School. The following schools feed into these high schools: Durham Middle School, DeLay Middle School, Hedrick Middle School, Huffines Middle School, Degan Elementary School, and Lewisville Elementary School. Among the nine campuses, an average of 73% of students qualified for free and reduced lunch during the 2022-2023 school year, indicating that their family was economically disadvantaged. With poverty also comes the crisis of food instability, extreme mobility, and malnutrition.
Food insecurities have become a greater need in the LISD schools. According to 2022-2023 PEIMS data 72.1 of students are on those 10 campuses that are eligible for free/reduced lunch. There are 161 students experiencing homelessness on across those 10 campuses.
The Lewisville Noon Rotary in partnership with Communities in Schools would like to further our grant and add an additional Title One School, Parkway Elementary to our funding. This would give 10 schools in the LISD feeder pattern a food pantry on these campuses for children. These food pantries will help provide healthy snacks and food for kids to have lunch or take home for the weekend.
TIMELINE:
Lewisville Noon Rotary will purchase the food, hygiene items, basic needs items, storage shelves, storage boxes, bags, and supplies to organize and/or re-stock the pantries. In general, the timeline of services provided to students aligns with the school calendar, with enrollment and initial services during August- September, continuing services through May of the following year.
HOW PROJECT FUNDS WILL BE SPENT:
Funding from the Rotary Foundation will be spent on essential items for the Rotary Food Pantries at Lewisville High School, Killough High School, Harmon High School, Durham Middle School, Hedrick Middle School, DeLay Middle School, Huffines Middle School, Degan Elementary, and Lewisville Elementary and now Parkway Elementary. Items that will be purchased include:
● Healthy, self-serve foods, meals, and snacks purchased from Sam's.
● Hygiene items and basic needs items such as deodorant, toothbrushes/paste, facewash, sanitary napkins, soap, latex or rubber gloves, sanitizer, and wipes for food safety and other needs emerging from the assessment of the school staff and CIS Site Coordinator.
● Storage unit, shelving, and bins to store food safely and sanitarily for the Parkway campus
● Bags for daily and weekend food packs
● Office supplies such as signs and tags to orderly label and organize the pantry
INVOLVEMENT OF CLUB MEMBERS:
We believe that the success of any project rides on the follow through. The Lewisville Noon Rotary Club members will be involved in the purchase of the food, shelving, and supplies, the packing of the daily and weekend food bags, and the organization and set up of the food pantry- both initially and on a regular basis. Our goal is to achieve at least 100 hours of Rotarian service to the Rotary pantries by the end of May 2024.
Rotarians will also be heavily involved in the follow-up services that are required to ensure student success by partnering with each school campus and local nonprofits, such as Communities In Schools of North Texas. Rotarians will be encouraged to serve throughout the year in the following roles:
● Mentors, who meet with students once a week to discuss student progress and to provide encouragement, build self-esteem, and set future goals.
● Academic Coaches, who meet with students as needed to work on core subjects such as Math, English, Social Studies, and Science.
● Career Presenters, who come to school campuses to talk to groups of students about careers that interest them. Students will have the opportunity to discuss their questions with the presenter one-to-one following the presentation.
The provision of basic resources, which are critical to students' health and wellness, will empower students with the tools to succeed in and outside of the classroom. The long-term impact of a successful education is our goal and will be key for students to break the cycle of poverty and reach their full potential in life.
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