Hello everyone! First of all, thank you for visiting my website and taking interest in my initiative. I thought I would start off my blog with sharing my story and the development of my first pantry!
Even though creating a pantry seems intimidating, it is one of the most rewarding tasks in the world. The Spark Momentum is here to guide you through the process and allow you to make change.
The Beginning
Back when I created my first pantry, I was simply a 7th grader attending Thomas Jefferson Middle School in New Jersey, unable to even imagine where my ideas would take me. We had a breakfast program at the school, but my peers would never eat the breakfast. They threw out uneaten bagels and apples- so much so that the trash cans would be full by the end of homeroom. Cans of healthy food were reduced to trash and no one even noticed. Furthermore, I saw my peers unable to focus in the classroom due to issues at their home or because they did not receive proper meals. Innocent kids are punished for not focusing in class but the real problem was never investigated. Until one day, my social studies teach, Mr. Andrew Liss, decided to show the class a video about "mini food pantries" popping up across the nation. We had never seen anything of the sort in New Jersey yet.
For others, this might have been another school lesson, but for me, it was the moment that changed my life. I started looking at problems of our society and school structure. I started to see the hidden meaning of the students' inability to concentrate and perform well in class. And so, I began my ambitious endeavor to create a small pantry outside my school. It took months of planning, preparing, and executing until the first pantry was established. I often felt discouraged while hearing a "no" when I approached people and stores for donations, but it was part of the journey. This pantry was finally planted in September 2017, and it still stands today.
Thousands of people have come across this pantry, and it has changed their life. Moreover, The Spark Momentum's goal is to promote neighbor engagement and interaction. When the whole community is unified, and there is a need to give and a need to take, the pantry reaches its full potential. Since then, my pantry has been recognized through various media platforms and channels.
Once again, thank you for listening to my story. Feel free to share on your social media pages with proper credits. If you have any questions or would like to go on this thrilling journey, please contact me at thesparkmomentum@gmail.com .