Central Florida mom provides snacks to students at over 80 schools
A Central Florida mother is working to ensure students at more than 80 schools across Seminole and Orange counties don’t go through the school day hungry.
“I want to be delivering to every single school that needs it,” Courtney Talisse, founder of snacks for students said.
Talisse said her mission began after her son told her that some of his classmates didn’t have snacks during snack time.
“Snacks are more than just a snack. They are fuel, they are focus, and they are inclusion,” Talisse said.
She created an Amazon wish list, hoping to collect enough snacks for her son’s school.
“Every school gets a donation every six weeks. So, we don’t just go to the school once, we continue donations throughout the whole entire school year with the help of 15 volunteers. I call them my snack angels,” Talisse said.
The community response was bigger than she expected, and soon boxes of snacks started arriving at her front door.
“Each school gets about six to 10 boxes of snacks depending on how many we have available,” Talisse said.
This generosity led to the creation of Snacks for Students, a program Talisse started to deliver snacks to schools.
“Right now, we deliver snack donations to over 82 schools in Seminole and Orange counties for children that don’t bring snacks for snack time,” Talisse said.
Talisse said she adjusts the types of snacks based on the students’ age group.
“When it comes to elementary schools, I try to stay away from the chips and the Pop-Tarts, but the middle school and the high schoolers, I’ll reserve that for them. So, most of the elementary schools will get the Pirate’s Booty, the crackers, the fruit snacks, the Nutri-Grain bars, and the breakfast bars,” Talisse said.
She now makes deliveries several times a week and said every delivery reminds her of the conversation that started it all.
“The donations were so overwhelming that I decided to start reaching out to other schools to see if they need help,” Talisse said.
Talisse said her mission is simple: to ensure a lack of food never gets in the way of a child’s learning. She said the program relies on community donations, and she hopes to continue expanding the number of schools she can serve.