District 5 Social Workers, Volunteers Distribute Food to Students in Need

Submitted by Lexington-Richland District Five.

There are a few days left before the start of the new school year, but many Lexington-Richland School District Five staff members are already hard at work making sure students get off to a good start. 

Staff work throughout the summer, participating in professional development training and other activities. But among those returning to schools officially in early August are District Five social workers, who have worked these past few months to provide school supplies and other services to students in need. On Aug. 7 and 8, they teamed up with volunteer groups to distribute a month’s supply of food to nearly 150 families. 

“A month’s worth of food makes a huge difference for some of these students,” said Jennifer Felkel, District Five’s Coordinator of Parenting, Family Literacy, and Social Work Services. “Trying to meet the needs of our neediest students is a year-round effort, and we’re really committed to making sure these students have what they need to be successful.” 

The August distribution was the third time this summer that the group passed out boxes of rice, canned vegetables and other nonperishable items as a summer version of the District Five Snack Pack program. During the school year, faith-based groups and volunteers donate food to give weekend rations of food to students. 

Volunteers like Steward Stout say there is a need and a desire among the community to serve students in need. 

“People ask me all the time, ‘how do things get this bad?’” said Stout, who works through his church to volunteer with the summer program and Snack Pack program. “I say, ‘You know what? It doesn’t matter how or why it happened. There are children and families in need, and that’s all that matters.’” 

On the frontlines of providing and coordinating services are District Five’s 10 social workers. Their work earned them statewide and district-wide recognition during the 2012-2013 school year.

In May, District Five’s Cheryl Cooley was named Social Worker of The Year by the South Carolina Association of School Social Workers. Felkel was awarded the South Carolina Public Health Association's 2013 Public Health Social Work Award the same month. Kim Cash, a social worker at the Alternative Academy for Success, was named District Five Support Employee of the Year for the 2013-2014 school year. 

“As a social worker, you do this job because you feel this is what you’re meant to do in life,” said Cash, distributing boxes of food on Aug. 7. “We all work together to ensure our students have the tools they need to be the best learners they can be.”