Students for Peace and Survival deliver with donations to combat food insecurity

group of people pose for photo holding checks — Pictured l to r: Jess Weimer (SPAS Advisor), Willa Lemov (SPAS Social Media), Beatrice Nester (SPAS VP), Lilly Kahn (SPAS President), Capital Roots COO Jessica Trowbridge, Regional Food Bank VP of Development Brian Wolters, Bhavya Kakarala (SPAS Treasurer), Keiran McNay (SPAS Secretary), and Preya Krishna-Kennedy (SPAS Advisor).

Students for Peace and Survival are living up to their name. The long-established high school club known as SPAS recently handed over the proceeds from its winter fundraiser to two organizations dedicated to improving the lives of people in the Capital Region.

The club raised a total of $2,000 from the Empty Bowls soup fundraiser and donated $1,000 each to the Regional Food Bank and Capital Roots.

Representatives from the Regional Food Bank and Capital Roots came to the school on April 22 to accept the donations and thank students. Jessica Trowbridge, Chief Operating Officer of Capital Roots (and a BCHS parent), and Brian Wolters, Vice President of Development for the Regional Food Bank (an Eagle parent), spent time with SPAS club officers describing their efforts to address food insecurity across multiple counties.

The Regional Food Bank serves 23 counties, distributing tens of millions of pounds of food annually through schools, pantries, and programs like weekend backpack programs and summer meal distributions.
Capital Roots focuses more locally on increasing access to fresh produce through community gardens, mobile markets, and partnerships with schools and stores.

Wolters and Trowbridge told the students that both organizations focus on equitable access to food, ensuring it is not only available but also culturally appropriate, and is distributed with care.

“We serve 23 counties in urban, rural, and suburban communities,” said Wolter. “We want to make sure we’re providing food with dignity.”

During their conversation with students, the community experts spoke of the rising need for food assistance. Demand has increased significantly since Covid, they told the students, and remains high due to inflation, cuts to SNAP benefits, and the overall increasing cost of living.

“We’re always trying to keep prices low so benefits can go further,” said Trowbridge. “We’ve built layers into our system to help people afford food without barriers or judgment.”

Both organizations work in collaboration with each other and with many other partners to distribute food to young and old. Community support, volunteers and donations like those from SPAS and the BC community play a crucial role in sustaining their work.

“We used to be able to say that with your $1 donation, we can provide four meals. That’s changed with inflation,” said Wolters. “But you can’t afford to not feed people, so we keep finding new ways to get the job done.”