#SaintsServe Day Impacts Knoxville

In conjunction with ESK’s service-learning curriculum and in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, ESK sixth through eighth graders spent Tuesday morning performing service in the greater Knoxville community. ESK sent students to Second Harvest Food Bank, FISH Hospitality Pantry, Mobile Meals and the Knoxville Area Rescue Ministry warehouse distribution center. It was a great way for our students to make an impact on the community in so many different ways.

Sixth graders at Second Harvest spent their morning prepping a 500-lb box of cornflakes for distribution. This meant dividing the larger box into 1-pound bags, which then needed to be boxed up and palletized. After scooping the cornflakes into bags, students added nutrition information, weighed each bag and then packed the boxes. KARM told the students that the food they prepared was enough to feed a family of four for a month, if they ate nothing but cornflakes.

At FISH Hospitality Pantry, seventh grade students served groceries to between 200-300 people. Groceries included canned food, humus, macaroni and cheese and bread. Mrs. O’Donnell said the students did a great job greeting the clients and responding to the FISH employees. Another group of students helped to sort and prepare food items for distribution to FISH clients.

Eighth graders spent their morning packing shelf-stable meals at Mobile Meals of Knoxville. Shelf-stable meals are the meals delivered to clients on holidays, like MLK, Jr., Day, or on days when deliveries can’t be made due to weather. Each meal included either canned spaghetti, ravioli or beef stew, along with a juice box, shelf-stable milk, a fruit cup and saltine crackers. Once the meals were prepped, they were then palletized for distribution. ESK packed nearly 4,200 meals, in 2-1/2 hours, which saves Mobile Meals about $5,000 in costs.

An additional group of sixth and seventh graders went to the new KARM warehouse distribution center, where they sorted clothes, shoes and donations. The students also helped to clean and organize a storage room. The efforts of our ESK students provided enough work hours for KARM that will generate enough revenue to provide 7,400 meals.