By Katie Mae Imhoff-Smith
Collaboration Project Story Team

What is one thing we can do together to better serve our schools? That was the question at the center of the first School + Church Affinity Group last September. The answer seemed like a simple food donation drive, but - through the efforts of the churches participating - became so much more. 

Collaboration for this specific event came through six different churches directing their own food collections. Some churches came up with fun ways to get people to give, like trying to match the weight of children with the weight of food. On Thursday, January 30, the six collaborating churches will come together at Cherokee Middle School to drop off, sort, and pack all of the donations before sending them out. Donations from these churches will be distributed through The Food for Success coalition which itself is a collaborative effort between The River Food Pantry, Selfless Ambition, and Food for Thought Initiative. Food for Success runs several pantries and weekend food programs connected to eight schools in the Madison Metropolitan School District.

Lea Aschkenase, from the Food for Success coalition, shares that the schools who will be receiving these donations through pantries “all have a higher than average percentage of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch. Research has shown that children who are hungry experience increased risk of physical illness and mental health problems, increased likelihood of missing school, difficulty concentrating and learning, and increased risk of failing to succeed academically. The food collected during this event will help provide food to students who struggle with food insecurity.”

While collaboration can come with logistical challenges, the mission of this collaborative food collection is to raise awareness about the pantries in our local schools and encourage churches to “adopt” a pantry as a part of their school partnership. If there is not a pantry connected with the school, the hope is to encourage the church to consider other needs and assets their school might have in order to find ways to creatively serve.

Another person working with this event shared that “the great thing about this event is how simple it is for each church to engage at a level that works for them while together they can make a bigger impact than any one of the churches is likely to make alone.”  The event collaborators are hopeful that this event will provide over 2,000 pounds of food that will be distributed by Food for Success to the pantries and weekend programs accessed by students and families in the Madison Metropolitan School District.

On the surface, this event might seem like just a simple food donation drive, but as churches unite in service to the most vulnerable, there is hope for so much more, and the collaboration to do it. 

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