Editorial Standards \u24d8<\/a><\/p>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDavid Rollins, a former teacher and owner of Papa Diesel’s BBQ in Apopka, is helping local students by providing free meals during the summer through his new initiative, “Papa’s Pit Stop.””So Papa’s Pit Stop is a program, our initiative that we actually just started, to give those kids without access, access to a free meal that they would typically get at school when the school year is going on,” Rollins said. The program offers free meals to K-12 students in Orange and Seminole counties. Students simply need to show their report card or student ID to receive a meal. Rollins, who still volunteer coaches, understands the challenges many children face during the summer. “I just know that, you know, when those kids have that food insecurity, it’s so much harder to do everything else,” he said. After leaving teaching, Rollins felt called to share his love of barbecue with the community, leading to the creation of Papa Diesel’s BBQ. This summer, he partnered with Seminole County Schools to ensure the meals he provides are a healthy option for students. “Within Seminole County, we have about 48% of our families and our students that are on free and reduced lunch,” a Seminole County Schools representative said. “You know, back in the day, we might see certain schools that just had a food pantry. But now in all of our schools within Seminole County, they all have a food pantry to help to fill that gap and meet the needs of our students and families.” Rollins and his team prepare 30 to 50 meals daily for local students. For student-athletes like Aliyah Byrd, the meals are a welcome relief. “I feel like it’s a good portion, especially, like, after a workout. And it’s like, good protein, good carbs, good everything,” Byrd said. She added, “In the summertime, it’s definitely hard for, like, teachers. I know, because, like, my mom’s a teacher. And so some, like, parents aren’t as fortunate. So it’s very nice of him to help and make sure kids are fed.” Rollins said his efforts are about helping those in need, especially during tough economic times. “You just never know what people are going through. And right now, in this economic climate where everybody’s scrapping tooth and nail to pay this bill or that bill, sometimes we forget about those that can’t, you know, help themselves,” he said. “Truthfully, it just really means that we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing. You know, if everybody does their fair share, share. I feel like, we’ve solved a lot more of the world’s issues,” Rollins said. A community member praised Rollins’ efforts, saying, “This is who he is. This is Papa Diesel, this is David. And he’s well deserve this recognition.”\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tAPOPKA, Fla. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
David Rollins, a former teacher and owner of Papa Diesel’s BBQ in Apopka, is helping local students by providing free meals during the summer through his new initiative, “Papa’s Pit Stop.”<\/p>\n
“So Papa’s Pit Stop is a program, our initiative that we actually just started, to give those kids without access, access to a free meal that they would typically get at school when the school year is going on,” Rollins said. <\/p>\n
The program offers free meals to K-12 students in Orange and Seminole counties. Students simply need to show their report card or student ID to receive a meal. Rollins, who still volunteer coaches, understands the challenges many children face during the summer. <\/p>\n
“I just know that, you know, when those kids have that food insecurity, it’s so much harder to do everything else,” he said. <\/p>\n
After leaving teaching, Rollins felt called to share his love of barbecue with the community, leading to the creation of Papa Diesel’s BBQ. This summer, he partnered with Seminole County Schools to ensure the meals he provides are a healthy option for students. <\/p>\n
“Within Seminole County, we have about 48% of our families and our students that are on free and reduced lunch,” a Seminole County Schools representative said. “You know, back in the day, we might see certain schools that just had a food pantry. But now in all of our schools within Seminole County, they all have a food pantry to help to fill that gap and meet the needs of our students and families.” <\/p>\n
Rollins and his team prepare 30 to 50 meals daily for local students. For student-athletes like Aliyah Byrd, the meals are a welcome relief. <\/p>\n
“I feel like it’s a good portion, especially, like, after a workout. And it’s like, good protein, good carbs, good everything,” Byrd said. <\/p>\n
She added, “In the summertime, it’s definitely hard for, like, teachers. I know, because, like, my mom’s a teacher. And so some, like, parents aren’t as fortunate. So it’s very nice of him to help and make sure kids are fed.” <\/p>\n
Rollins said his efforts are about helping those in need, especially during tough economic times. <\/p>\n
“You just never know what people are going through. And right now, in this economic climate where everybody’s scrapping tooth and nail to pay this bill or that bill, sometimes we forget about those that can’t, you know, help themselves,” he said. <\/p>\n
“Truthfully, it just really means that we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing. You know, if everybody does their fair share, share. I feel like, we’ve solved a lot more of the world’s issues,” Rollins said. <\/p>\n
A community member praised Rollins’ efforts, saying, “This is who he is. This is Papa Diesel, this is David. And he’s well deserve this recognition.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THIS WEEK\u2019S COMMUNITY CHAMPION IS MAKING SURE LOCAL STUDENTS DON\u2019T GO HUNGRY DURING SUMMER BREAK. WESH 2\u2019S MEREDITH…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334321,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[137821,10787,1089,84352,37900,1175,110784,139,141,140,137820,111947,12841,62123,531,1014,2956,2075],"class_list":["post-334320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-apopka-barbecue-chef","tag-bbq","tag-family","tag-former-teacher","tag-free-meal","tag-kid","tag-local-student","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-papa-diesel","tag-pit-stop","tag-program","tag-rollins","tag-school","tag-seminole-county","tag-student","tag-summer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334320\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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