Eat Up: Kepnock high schoolers helping make sure fellow students don’t go hungry

Meet the dedicated Bundy teens donating their time and doing their bit to make lunches that are fulfilling in more ways than one.

Kepnock SHS Students during their last sandwich-making event.

Making lunch and a difference, one local school is doing their part to help Eat Up to ensure students don’t go without food.

Eat Up CEO and co-founder Lyndon Galea said this particular program came about when Kepnock State High applied for a grant through the Feed Appeal to support students in need with lunch and Eat Up was elected as the lunch support program to provide these lunches.

“If kids don’t have adequate food to fuel their bodies and brains, they can’t concentrate, and if they can’t concentrate, they can’t learn,” he said.

“The teachers at the schools are best placed to identify those kids in need and discretely provide them with nourishment so that they can make the most of their learning opportunities.

“Eat Up aims to make this as easy as possible for teachers by providing sandwiches that are easily accessible and are free of any branding to minimise any potential embarrassment of stigmatisation that students may feel.”

He said while they didn’t have any statistics on potential food insecurity in Bundaberg, there was “anecdotal evidence” from teachers at schools in Bundaberg reporting that there are students who regularly attend with inadequate food from home.

Kepnock SHS Students during their last sandwich-making event.

Mr Galea said they were pleased to have the assistance by Kepnock State High school in making sandwiches which are distributed among themselves and two other local schools.

“We often collaborate with community groups such as Rotary and Lions clubs in regional areas to assist with making and delivery of sandwiches, however it is wonderful to have students working together to help other students in need and we are extremely grateful for Kepnock State High’s assistance,” he said.

Kepnock State High School principal Nicholas Howkins said “when we spoke with Eat Up we realised that our other schools in our area were experiencing the same concern for our students who came to school without lunch for a number of reasons”.

He said Eat Up had been supportive, helping them provide lunch for students in a dignified and supportive manner.

Kepnock SHS Students during their last sandwich-making event.

“Eat up have provided the resources, equipment and suggested the best approach for our school to assist the Community,” Mr Howkins said.

“A dedicated and caring group of Senior Leaders make the sandwiches.

“Fifteen 15 students volunteer their time after school.

“They mentor younger students in a supportive way to become involved and use the community focus to build relationships with students who may be struggling.”

He said they had a target number for each school that they assist and staff were surprised at just how quickly their team could reach the target.

Kepnock became involved in 2020 and Mr Howkins said they hoped to continue the program for as long as possible.

When asked if he believed there to be a food insecurity issue in Bundaberg, he said they were aware of some of the complex issues faced in our community and the wonderful groups who support the provision of meals and food for families in need.

“The provision of sandwiches for students lunches is a wonderful initiative to add to the work carried out by the many groups in Bundaberg,” he said.

As a school, Mr Howkins thanked Eat Up for the support and guidance in the program.

“They have been extremely supportive in assisting us to implement the program,” he said.

“Our students value the opportunity to assist kids in other schools and help their community.”

Originally published as Eat Up: Kepnock high schoolers helping make sure fellow students don’t go hungry