Forest Hill principal runs food banks at local schools

For more than a decade, Forest Hill Elementary Principal Nikki Costello has operated a food pantry out of unused rooms at East Burke High School (EBHS). Since last August, she’s doubled up, opening a similar program out of Forest Hill Elementary.

“[Former EBHS Principal Rexanna] Lowman had always wanted to do something for the community, especially after the furniture industry collapsed and just — the amount of poverty that existed,” she said.

When Draughn High School opened in 2008, EBHS downsized, freeing up many rooms in the pods, which are separate buildings on the property. A teacher at the time, Costello agreed to move into the open-concept, central building if she could utilize the pod for a food pantry.

The pantry assisted families for several years while Costello worked at EBHS. After helming it at EBHS and becoming principal at Forest Hill, Costello saw the same struggles in the western side of the county, prompting her to replicate the initiative at the elementary school.

Partnerships

To get the ball rolling, she partnered with Shekinah Food Ministry, funneling pantry food through East Burke’s doors.

According to the principal, Shekinah gets food from Second Harvest among other companies, offering everything from fresh food to nonperishables.

However, the school pantries don’t have the infrastructure for perishable food. Instead, she manages several types of shelf-stable donations out of dedicated rooms encompassing clothes, food, and medicine.

“Honestly, the donations — that pretty much runs the pantry,” Costello said. “I still get stuff from Shekinah, but for the past [several] years, the Superintendent Souper Bowl has really been what tides us over.”

The Superintendent’s Souper Bowl is a canned food drive that the county puts on each January around the time of the NFL’s Super Bowl. Last year, Burke County Public Schools announced a collection of 32,000 pounds of food, which they distributed between five local food pantries including EBHS’s.

According to the press release, “In its 10-year history (minus a year off for COVID) the district-wide canned food drive has collected a little more than 269,000 total pounds of food for the community.”

Community need

While the school pantries are open to anybody in the county who needs a helping hand, Costello gears availability toward students and their families, keeping cultural differences in mind when choosing which food goes where.

“There’s a difference between the populations,” the principal said. “I realized that while the same amount of need exists on this side of the county, it looks a little different.”

Where EBHS’s stock leans toward traditional pantry materials like green beans and corn, Costello caters the Forest Hill pantry toward the large Hispanic population in the Morganton area, using monetary donations to purchase items like cornmeal, rice, and beans.

“Rice and beans — that’s something everybody eats, but I do try to make sure [because] my Hispanic families don’t eat canned green beans,” she said. “Do you know how many cans of green beans there are at East Burke? I will never give away all the green beans.”

How it works

Both pantries operate on a volunteer basis and are open once a month, depending on availability. This almost completely eliminates overhead.

To communicate open dates, the principal sends out information via ClassDojo to students, as well as posting on the East Burke Food Pantry and Clothes Closet Facebook page.

For some, she simply tapes a piece of paper to the door of the pantry.

As for Forest Hill, Costello’s language capabilities are self-proclaimed “sad school Spanish,” meaning she only opens the elementary school pantry when she can get bilingual volunteers like the custodian or some of her teachers.

Donations and impact

The nature of donations fluctuates over time, covering everything from medicine to green beans. When it comes to non-food donations, Costello can find a home for it.

One person dropped off nine trash bags of new, unpaired socks that he originally planned to burn. She gave socks away and utilized some as dry-erase markers for teachers.

“We’re going to repurpose. We’re going to reuse it. But we’re not going to burn socks,” Costello said.

She also stays tapped into the community, offering help when she hears a family is in need.

“There’s a lot of kids that are out there that are sleeping on the floor in their homes — they don’t have beds,” she said. “Not everybody has that privilege … If I catch wind that there’s a family that doesn’t have a mattress, I keep my ears out and I’ll post, ‘Hey, I’m looking for a such-and-such.’ People will see that and contact [me].”

While she doesn’t have space for long-term furniture storage, the pantries could use a fridge or freezer. The freezer she used for meats died about a month ago.

“We discovered it — you know what it’s like to discover that — it’s not pleasant,” Costello said. “In all years past, I have bought big chunks of meat … I buy [turkeys] at Thanksgiving, but I don’t give them out ’til Christmas, because I know that kids are home for two weeks and a turkey will last a long time if you turkey it up.”

When it comes to other donations, she simply asks two things: First, if you donate cans of food, try to vary it up, if possible. Second, many families come to the pantries to get food boxes to make meals.

When people donate parts of a meal, it makes it difficult to accommodate the families. In other words, what can a family without milk and meat do with a box of hamburger helper?

“I have people that I see every month, and then I have people that I’ll see one month and then I’ll never see again,” the principal said. “I think that shows that people know that when they need it, there’s resources.”

The East Burke Food Pantry and Clothes Closet will be open on Saturday, Nov. 22. For information on other dates for both pantries or to donate supplies or time, call Costello at 828-329-8352.