Putnam’s PEP Foundation Asking For Food Donations For Students

The PEP Foundation has partnered up with numerous organizations throughout Putnam County to ensure school system food pantries are fully stocked.

Executive Director Katelyn Steakley said PEP is asking people to bring canned food items and ready-to-eat meals during Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week. Steakley said that many do not realize how big of a barrier hunger can be to student learning.

“When student’s physical needs aren’t met, a lot of times they struggle to be able to be ready to participate in the classroom setting, and that can hinder their overall education,” Steakley said. “And those are things that we want to avoid so that’s why it’s important for us to invest in things like physical needs.”

Among the items most needed are canned soups; vegetables like canned carrots, beans, or green beans; bags of rice, peanut butter, and box dinners. Steakley said the foundation began work with school food pantries last year to ensure students had adequate food. Steakley said The PEP Foundation also helps run the backpack program with which they serve around 775 Putnam students.

“We just want to bring a lot of awareness to the fact that we have families that are experiencing food insecurity in our community and make sure that we can provide a way to help,” Steakley said. “The mission of the PEP Foundation is to remove barriers for student achievement, whatever that may look like. Food insecurity is obviously a huge issue for students, we want them to show up fed and ready to learn.”

Drop off locations include the County Courthouse, the Chamber of Commerce, 37 Cedar, and Smart Bank. Steakley said there are big blue bins at each location where citizens can drop off donations.