Empowering Kids, Empowers Communities
Our kids have the most potential to change the world. Literally. They have the passion, the drive and the motivation for change. Our job is to cultivate the environment where their passion is encouraged and where they feel empowered. When our kids feel safe, seen and supported, they can feel brave enough to try something new!
This fall, Lakota Schools sponsored the “Stuff the Bus” event to collect non-perishable food items for Reach out Lakota - a local nonprofit providing families with shelf stable food items, gently used clothing, small household items and other supplement items like paper products, personal hygiene products, infant care items and cleaning supplies.
Our very own Pause teen and Lakota student, Drew K., was excited to participate in the food drive because it allowed him to compete with his peers for the highest number of donated goods. As he started to engage, he began to understand more of the meaning behind the food drive and wanted to collect as many items as he could - not to win the contest, but because he realized the significance of the support he was providing.
Drew was diagnosed with Autism at age two and has known his whole life of his disability, but never really understood what having a disability meant for his life. In many ways, this food drive connected some of the dots for Drew. Growing up, he only ate five specific foods - Tyson chicken nuggets, goldfish, Cheez-Its, Oreos and yogurt. For years, he worked with a feeding therapist to help expose him to new foods. It wasn’t until moving from an Autism specific school to public school that this started to change. During health class, they talked about healthy eating and healthy foods. Drew came home from school and told his parents he was going to start eating fruit because the food he ate wasn’t healthy. Ever since then - he has eaten a plate of fruit with his meals! Go Drew!
“Once Drew started to get competitive with the food drive we talked about why the drive was important. It was fun to collect the food but there was a reason why it was being collected- people need the food. We talked about how nice it is to be able to try different foods and how nice it would be for other families to get to try other foods. We talked about what we could do and Taylor (Director of Unlimited) gave us the idea to ask some of our neighbors. Drew ended up making a video and requesting help from our neighbors. The next thing we knew we were collecting food and donations from all over the neighborhood. Drew did some research to see where he should go to get the most for his money and then we went shopping for donations. He had the day off school one Monday and we ended up emailing the assistant principal to see if we could make a delivery while they were having their work day. We had so much food there was no way he could take it all in on his own. That day we took in over 200 items. That week he would go in every morning with another wagon full. In the end he ended up with nearly 600 items donated.” - Lesley K., Drew’s Mom
Daily, Drew calculated his monetary donations and strategized to purchase the food items Reach Out Lakota needed most. He looked for sales and lowest prices to make the most of the funds he had.
Drew took a huge leap to support his community and overcame so many obstacles! Talking to neighbors (some who were strangers), explaining the need and advocating for his community stretched him. As he visited grocery stores he practiced and succeeded at navigating all of the people, the noises, the smells, and the fluorescent lights. Drew overcame the “hard” because he knew the can of soup, the box of macaroni and cheese, the jar of peanut butter, the box of spaghetti was more than just food. He understood it meant a mom was feeding her family for the night and that his bravery was helping the second grader have food for lunch.
“Initially I wanted to compete in the food drive but then I realized that people really are in need. I did enjoy collecting the essential items for people. Even those who might be struggling to support themselves overall.” - Drew, 15-year-old Pause teenager
Drew - your commitment to serving your community is inspiring and has helped countless families. Thank YOU for your dedication and enthusiasm - you are a hometown hero!
This is CAN DO. This is COMMUNITY. This is YOUR SUPPORT.
