Sixth Grader Donates Over $3,000 in Food to Local Nonprofit

How many young people does it take to provide supplemental food to over 800 students for a weekend? One. More specifically, one highly-motivated eleven-year-old determined to make a difference.

Meet Sarah-Noor Jamani, a sixth grader who lives in South Riding and attends Nysmith School. Sarah realized that many of her Northern Virginia neighbors have been struggling to make ends meet during the ongoing pandemic. Determined to make a positive impact at the local level, Sarah researched area nonprofits, discovered Food For Neighbors, and fell in love with its mission of battling teen food insecurity.

Food For Neighbors is a grassroots nonprofit that began in Herndon. Nine years ago when serving as the PTA President for Herndon Middle School, cofounder Karen Joseph learned that one in four children in Fairfax County, VA go hungry every day, and she thought this particularly troubling, given that Fairfax County is one of the wealthiest counties in the nation. Many of these children rely greatly on free or reduced price meals provided Mondays through Fridays by the schools. Realizing that this leaves students vulnerable to hunger over the weekends, several elementary schools had initiated some type of weekend food program, but the various organizations supporting these could not take on the larger middle and high school populations. In 2016, Karen and her husband, Mark Joseph, founded Food For Neighbors to fill this weekend food gap for the older students. Food For Neighbors addresses this gap by providing grocery gift cards and holiday meals as well as by collecting food via its popular Red Bag Program.

As Sarah explained, “I liked knowing that, when I collected food, it would go to students who need it.”

There was one problem. Although Food For Neighbors had grown exponentially since 2016, its Red Bag Program was not yet in the South Riding area. Sarah didn’t let that stop her. She decided to hold her own food drive, and, to make it easy for everyone to participate, she made it virtual. With the help of her parents, she made and distributed a flyer that emphasized the importance of the Food For Neighbors mission. On the flyer, she also noted that, for every $20 donation, Giant food would match it by $5.00 and her family would match it by another $5.00. In the end, she raised $3,200 that she used to purchase so much food that she had to recruit a friend with a truck to help deliver it!

“I can’t believe the amount of food that Sarah was able to provide,” said Karen Joseph. “Her family must be so proud of her. It’s so nice to see even our youngest community members making a difference.”

The family was very happy to help Sarah with the very successful service project. Little sister, Sabrina, helped with unpacking and delivering the food, and mother, Yasmin, and father, Nurali, provided additional support. Nurali noted that, while the project helps Sarah with earning membership into the National Junior Honor Society, the family enthusiasm stemmed more from personal experience. In the early 1970’s, both Yasmin’s and Nurali’s families migrated to Canada. As they had little when they moved, they relied on help from multiple organizations, to which they will be eternally grateful.

As Nurali noted, “Service is not only a way for us to help and give back, but it’s a reminder of our roots and where we have come from. Yasmin and I want to make sure both our girls understand the importance of service and what it can mean to others….”

Food For Neighbors thanks the Jamani family and welcomes all who wish to serve. At this time, Food For Neighbors has over 1,500 households registered to provide food, and over 1,000 volunteers committed to collecting and sorting it. More donations and volunteers are needed as the nonprofit continues to expand throughout Northern Virginia. Additional information can be found at https://www.foodforneighbors.org/.