Different generations come together for cause
<p>Ben Gorham unloads orange juice while Carl Pope loads them into the boxes. Pope delivers the boxes every week to those who are unable to pick them up.</p>
PLAINS – Two very different generations came together for the same cause on Thursday as high school students worked together with senior citizens to pack boxes of food for people in the community.
Every two months the Plains Senior Center gets a large shipment of food from Commodity Supplemental Food Program. The federally funded program aims to provide nutritious food to a variety of different people including citizens over 60 years of age.
This month the truck delivered the cases of food on Wednesday and 48 boxes were packed on Thursday.
The senior citizens work together to help one another by distributing the food evenly throughout the boxes but their workload is more than many can handle. This is where the high school students come in. The able-bodied kids donate their time to lift the heavy cases onto the tables where the seniors are able to open them and divide them into the boxes lining the table.
The system has ironed out all the wrinkles throughout the years and runs smoothly and efficiently.
As Sally Sears mans the table up front she reads from a list of products each box will include. She shouts an individual item out and the kids scramble to grab the appropriate cases. As they place the boxes on the tables, a team of two seniors open the case and distributes the correct amount of each item into the labeled boxes.
Each box is labeled with a name and each person in the program receives two months’ worth of food to supplement their diet with.
One of the organizers, Shirley Helterline, said the kids help make the process run a lot smoother.
She explained that for many of the seniors, lifting the heavy cases is too hard but the students are more than capable to lift the items with ease.
Superintendent of Plains Public Schools, Thom Chisholm, said the students had been helping the program out for four years.
“The real reason they came over here is for Shirley’s cinnamon rolls,” said Chisholm with a laugh.
The rolls have earned their spot in the hall of fame of desserts and although the tasty treats are motivation, Chisholm said the students enjoy helping with the project. He stressed the connection between the senior citizens and the school is an important one.
“We have a good reputation between the school and the senior citizens. It’s something to perpetuate,” explained Chisholm.
He explained the importance for kids to get out and see that not everyone is capable of doing everything on their own. As he pointed to some of the boxes, he explained some of the people receiving the boxes could hardly get out of their homes.
By simply donating an hour of their days, the students are able to make a tremendous impact.
The relationship between the different generations teaches the students the art of giving back to one’s community – something that strengthens and bonds small towns like Plains.
The students get credit for required volunteer hours and also help to simplify others’ lives.
“The system they have here is flawless,” said Chisholm.