SCCS students work to feed the hungry

Sandhills Classical Christian School (SCCS) prepared 10,000 meals in three hours on April 1 for the hungry.

KC and the Sunshine Band’s “Boogie Shoes” was ripping from the enormous speakers as the upper school’s students moved in time, packing the meals in assembly lines. Their smiling faces and gloved hands shared the joyous event of serving others.

The upper school has approximately 130 students in grades six through 12th.

Joyous Sandhills Classical Christian School students prepare 10,000 meals in three hours with RISE on April 1, 2022.

Students packed meals of dehydrated vegetables and soy, sealed them in plastic bags, and, when hydrated, each meal feeds six.

SCCS partnered with Raleigh’s division of Rise Against Hunger (RISE). Students held fundraisers, and the Pinehurst, Sandhills, and Southern Pines Rotary Clubs contributed to the $3,500 food initiative.

RISE is a growing global organization working to end hunger by empowering communities, nourishing lives and responding to emergencies.

RISE events manager Zack Kauges said most meals go to international areas, and these 10,000 meals may go to Zambia or a southern part of Africa. RISE is funded by school groups, corporations, grants, Kraft Heinz Company and Hilton Hotels.

The RISE team has nutritionists to assess nutritional needs and teams to teach how to farm tilapia, a medium-sized fish.

Kauges has been with RISE for nine years and encouraged the student’s participation time with a two-foot-circumference gong at each thousandth’s marker.

students work to feed the hungry

SCCS students work the assembly line on April 1, 2022, with RISE to feed the hungry.

“What inspired RISE?” asked student Rory Robertson, a tenth grader.

“Greg Buchanan, a pastor and veteran, was gleaning fields for potatoes in Virginia for the hungry and saw an international need,” Kauges said.

RISE began as Stop Hunger Now in 1998 and began meal packing in 2005.

SCCS head of school, Dell Cook, said he has worked with RISE for over 10 years, packing over one million meals, beginning when he was with Cary Christian School.

Learn more about SCCS by clicking here.

Feature photo: SCCS students fill a RISE truck on April 1, 2022, to feed the hungry.

~Article, photos, and video by Sandhills Sentinel Journalist Stephanie M. Sellers. Contact her at [email protected].

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