Elisabeth Slay
Northeast News

Located in a former teacher’s lounge and classroom lies the Northeast Village Pantry, which provides food, clothing and household items to the hungry and homeless students of Northeast High School.

According to founder and coordinator Roberta Holt-Kipper, hunger has long been a problem in the Northeast.

“What’s different today is that we’re actually going to address the situation,” Holt-Kipper said. “We know even though the kids get free lunches hunger doesn’t stop on the way home from school.”

The idea for the pantry initially came from a Christmas adoption event the Northeast High Alumni organization was hosting.

“We were collecting things thinking someone in this school would be able to be the distributor and (Principal) Bolden came to me and said that we were the distributors,” Holt-Kipper said.

From there, Holt-Kipper and her former classmates made arrangements for the pantry’s location and suppliers.

Dale Lightfoot, a former Northeast High student and business owner, became the pantry’s main supplier of produce, bread and other food items.

According to Lightfoot, the Northeast always needed a foundation such as the pantry, so he was happy to help.

“I grew up in the Northeast so I’ve been around this area and it’s changed a lot,” Lightfoot said. “I just go where the food goes…so this was a natural fit for me.”

Over time, the pantry became successful and an important tool for Northeast High students.

“We see probably 50 students a day. Most of them are in there for things Dale provides us (such as) sweets or an apple or an orange…,” Holt-Kipper said.

As well as feeding students on campus, volunteers explained, the pantry provides food to their families through a paperwork process in which students are asked to describe their situation.

Gradually, members of the alumni association began to discover other items and ways students needed help, so they expanded their services.

“As an alumni association we already provide free school supplies for our students twice a year, so we’re just thinking it’s all just part of that greater picture of keeping kids in school, fulfilling needs and helping,” Holt-Kipper said.

When the need for the pantry grew, Northeast High School Principal Doug Bolden offered Holt-Kipper an additional room.

“We didn’t ask for another space but Mr. Bolden generously offered us this classroom because it’s impossible to operate a clothing closet and storage space (from the current pantry),” Holt-Kipper said.

According to Holt-Kipper, she and another volunteer are hoping to acquire a grant from Giving the Basics, which is a foundation that provides toilet paper and other sanitary products to those in need.
“We found a company here in town and it’s a Kansas City based foundation that serves the needs of not only food banks, but they’re in schools and churches,” Holt-Kipper said.
Every student eligible for food can utilize the pantry as long as it’s after their lunch period. No more than five students can be in the pantry at once. Holt-Kipper says that while the pantry doesn’t know specifically which students are homeless, they have separate supplies for those who self-identify as such.

Currently, Lightfoot and the pantry are attempting to make Northeast High School a Harvesters school, which will give them more resources to help homeless and hungry students.
“We want to be able to, if it’s 200 kids (or) if it’s 500 kids, we want to be able to take care of our own,” Holt-Kipper said.

Lightfoot – who is a Harvesters agent – explained he can’t give Northeast High School students food from the organization until the school is approved.

“I hope that by the first part of the fall this area will be a Harvesters clean area,” Lightfoot said.

For several of the pantry volunteers, the best aspect of helping Northeast High is the bonds they’ve formed.

“What I have enjoyed so much about this is the relationship with the students. We know a lot of them by name and a lot of the time… the first thing they do is walk over and give us a hug,” said pantry volunteer Pat McCollun-Roberts.

According to volunteer and retired teacher Helen Kuhr-Shores, it’s important for the pantry to follow the proper procedures and regulations for storing food.

“We’ve got play by the rules, and that’s what we plan to do; hopefully Northeast High School will be a role model in the Kansas City district,” Kuhr-Shores said.

Those in the alumni association feel their bond as friends and classmates ignites their passion for the pantry.

“I always said, to me it’s a community of the heart,” Holt-Kipper said. “We’re all brother and sisters, not because we were born brothers and sisters, but because we have chosen to put these people in our lives.”