Dozens of Southern Lehigh High School students spent part of their school day Thursday packing mashed potatoes, soup and granola bars into meal kits that will be distributed through the Salvation Army in Allentown.
The student-led Feeding the Valley club has raised $4,000 and donated 500 meals in its first semester of operation.
Thursday’s meal kit prep was one of five donation events held so far, with other sessions focused on ready-to-eat meals such as chicken wraps and hoagies.
Senior Mark Hernandez, whose parents immigrated from Guatemala, said his own family has had to rely on food pantry donations, and he appreciates being the person who can deliver a large cooler of food to the Salvation Army.
“They were so excited to be able to give it out to the community because these are things you can hand out — like the cooked meals we’ve made, there’s been times where within the hour they said we’re already all out,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez said his own experience has taught him how much a family can benefit from their neighbors’ generosity.
“My parents have no high school diploma, so I’ve had to work up from nothing, and I’ve been able to do so much,” Hernandez said, “and I want to make sure that the people around me, who are equally as deserving of an opportunity, know that they have that opportunity, and with this club I was able to see that you really, even with just a high school community, you’re able to do so much.”
Club President Matthew Aung said food has always been an important bridge linking him to his parents’ home country of Burma.
“In the U.S., a lot of the connection to my culture was good food,” Aung said.
Aung developed a passion for cooking during the pandemic, which reinforced for him the value of making warm meals accessible to all.
“That love for cooking and connection to others kind of grew into this as I got older,” Aung said, “so I started to realize there’s community members who don’t have this village that I have, don’t get to share one with other people, and I wanted to make that possible for everyone.”
The wealth disparity between Southern Lehigh School District and nearby communities inspired club Vice President Yusef Syed to take action.
“I recognize how privileged our community is, and how privileged everyone here is, and I want to spread that privilege,” Syed said.
Sixty students have joined the club, and members of the Southern Lehigh High School community have stepped up to support their work. Their biggest individual donor so far has been senior Aria Izzo, who donated the $800 she raised through her Homecoming Court service project.
Updates on club activities and a donation link can be found at the Instagram account @slhsfeedingthevally.