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.<\/p>\n
The student-led Feeding the Valley club has raised $4,000 and donated 500 meals in its first semester of operation.<\/p>\n
Thursday\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were so excited to be able to give it out to the community because these are things you can hand out \u2014 like the cooked meals we\u2019ve made, there\u2019s been times where within the hour they said we\u2019re already all out,\u201d Hernandez said.<\/p>\n
Hernandez said his own experience has taught him how much a family can benefit from their neighbors\u2019 generosity.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents have no high school diploma, so I\u2019ve had to work up from nothing, and I\u2019ve been able to do so much,\u201d Hernandez said, \u201cand 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\u2019re able to do so much.\u201d<\/p>\n
Club President Matthew Aung said food has always been an important bridge linking him to his parents\u2019 home country of Burma.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the U.S., a lot of the connection to my culture was good food,\u201d Aung said.<\/p>\n
Aung developed a passion for cooking during the pandemic, which reinforced for him the value of making warm meals accessible to all.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat love for cooking and connection to others kind of grew into this as I got older,\u201d Aung said, \u201cso I started to realize there\u2019s community members who don\u2019t have this village that I have, don\u2019t get to share one with other people, and I wanted to make that possible for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
The wealth disparity between Southern Lehigh School District and nearby communities inspired club Vice President Yusef Syed to take action.<\/p>\n
\u201cI recognize how privileged our community is, and how privileged everyone here is, and I want to spread that privilege,\u201d Syed said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Updates on club activities and a donation link<\/a> can be found at the Instagram account @slhsfeedingthevally<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t