HAYS addresses food insecurity, other community needs in Hannibal

HANNIBAL, Mo. — Corey Bennett, principal at Stowell Elementary and vice president of the Hannibal Alliance for Youth Success (HAYS) program, knows the need for food security within the Hannibal Public School District.

Bennett is often the person handing Buddy Packs to some of the 400 Hannibal children who might otherwise go without food on the weekend. Bennett said students receive the bags with anticipation to see what’s inside.

In a press release, Bennett said, “It’s fun to see the little guys carrying them out to their cars with huge smiles, because it’s almost heavy for them.”

HAYS is an organization of the Hannibal Public School District. Many students in the Hannibal Public School district receive a Buddy Packs each Friday afternoon to help stock their pantries during the weekend with easy-to-make items that most children can make themselves.

Bennett said Whitney Holiday, director of Parents as Teachers (PAT) and Buddy Pack coordinator for HAYS, dedicates herself to the cause along with many others volunteers.

Families are usually connected to the HAYS program through a teacher or counselor referral.

Buddy Packs are packed each month by community volunteers, students or school employees. They contain easy-to-make items such as peanut butter and jelly, microwave macaroni and cheese, soup, and granola bars.

Once packed, the crew at Century 21 Broughton Team comes in with several vehicles to deliver the Buddy Packs to each school where principals and counselors distribute them to students who need them.

Angela Peters is a broker at Century 21 Broughton Team and a retired 25-year educator. She is the VP chair for the United Way of the Mark Twain Area’s yearly campaign, “Everyone Can Help Someone.” Peters said delivering Buddy Packs is a valued tradition started years ago by her parents, Gary and Barbara Broughton, who founded the company. Peters said helping support the community and local education was a priority of her parents and was passed down to her.

“They got involved with that early on. Now our agents love doing it as well, just to be involved in this way, allows us to get out every month and have those vital touches with the community,” Peters said. “We also have agents who mentor students.”

Peters said the group has been doing it long enough the operation runs like a well-oiled machine. They load up several vans and can get the deliveries done in usually less than an hour.

Learning about food insecurity in Hannibal was an eye-opener for Peters, which she didn’t realize until joining the local United Way board. In the Hannibal School District, more than 58% of students are eligible for the free and reduced lunch program. Some of those students have wondered where their next meal will come from, and others have wondered where they might sleep that night.

“There are homeless right here in Hannibal, and people who are living on the streets,” she said.

Students who receive Buddy Packs are not required to be on the free and reduced lunch plan, but the percentage gives a startling look at local community needs.

HAYS helps address that need in other ways, too. It extends a lifeline to Hannibal families through the Helping Hands program. The program helps people who are going through a hard time or have a particular unmet need after other resources in the community have been exhausted. This can include help during medical emergencies, gas cards or making ends meet until the end of the cycle.

Bennett said Helping Hands is often there for families who are facing their hardest times.

“We are able to step in during those moments, tell them not to worry and offer them some help they need,” Bennett said.

Bennett met a parent at a local pharmacy one night to help pay for a child’s medication.

“She had tears in her eyes and said, ‘I don’t know what I would do without this help,’” Bennett recalled.

The HAYS program is funded through grants, community donations, fundraising events and workplace campaigns.

Bennett said the most immediate need for Buddy Packs is peanut butter, the most expensive item. Peanut butter is a good source of protein and comes sealed to ensure safety of those who might have peanut allergies. It is often a source of workplace campaigns, such as one at General Mills, which has been the source of many peanut butter drives. Peanut butter donations always are accepted at the Hannibal Board of Education.

“If we can get more people who want to help others for nothing in return, we can continue this movement. It’s a movement we need in all communities, not just ours,” Peters said. “As a whole in society, we need to remember that everybody can help somebody every single day in some way.”