On Monday, the small gym at the upper school buzzed with activity from volunteers packing up meals.
In honor of MLK day, Harvest Pack came to school to provide students, parents and faculty with the opportunity to impact their community positively. Harvest Pack is a hunger relief nonprofit organization that addresses food insecurity by supporting volunteers in bringing meal-packing events to their local communities.
The service day occurred in the small gym at the upper school campus, with nearly 50 people volunteering per one-and-a-half-hour shift. Each person at the table had a different job which included holding a bag, sand cooping oats, cinnamon, and sugar. Other jobs were packaging up the meal bags and putting the exact amount of bags into each box. In past years, the Harvest Pack event took place at the lower school.
Harvest Pack Partnership Manager Allie Wichman said this year has grown and all the sign-up slots have filled up.
“I’ve been working with Harvest Pack since 2022, and this is my third year doing the SPA pack. You guys have grown the program each year and have crushed it. Last year, I want to say that you guys packed 30,000 meals in total,” Wichman said.
There’s more to this organization than just packaging food.
Wichman said, “I think the most fulfilling part of my job is connecting with various people, each person joining hands to embrace new opportunities together and later sharing their unique stories of positive change in their communities.”
The gym was very lively and filled with chatter and music from the loudspeakers. Near the end of the first shift, there was a lot of bell ringing. Volunteers would come up to a table in the gym whenever a box was complete and ring a bell. Each box held 40 bags of food, containing eight servings in each bag. The morning session had packaged 50 boxes, making up 16,000 meals and the afternoon session had packaged 47 boxes, making up 15,040 meals.
After packaging up food for two hours, volunteers were welcomed into the cafeteria for pizza provided by PA members to reward their hard work.
A group circled the tables, shouting out the order of the ingredients each bag needed. The food contains carbohydrates, proteins, and vitamins that help nourish the body and mind. Harvest Pack meals are nut-free, vegan, kosher, and halal, so an extensive array of people with different needs and food restrictions can enjoy them.
Although the gym was mainly filled with younger kids and parents, it was an opportunity for the whole community to participate and meet other people for two hours. Along with the group of mainly younger kids, a few sophomores were participating to meet their recommended 10 service hours.
Sophomore Brooks Geiger volunteered to be a part of the first session with his younger brother.
“I learned that these small acts, by putting just a couple hours towards making food for kids in need, can make a big impact,” Geiger said. “The most rewarding thing was when I was done and found out how many meals I made for kids.”
Sophomore Ella Barlow participated in the second session of the day. Barlow was surprised at how many people had shown up.
“I think this service has greatly impacted the community by giving food; it has helped make me more grateful in the process,” said Barlow.
This day of service showed how working together with compassion and a desire to help can make a real difference. As Harvest Pack Partnership Manager Allie Whichman expressed, forming connections and sharing stories are key to the organization’s mission. The MLK Day event was a powerful example of the lasting impact of community service, inspiring everyone to keep seeking out ways to make positive changes.
Upper school students will be participating in their own service day on Jan. 31.
