3 minute read
Student Spotlight: Sam Abbott
SAM ABBOTT
Writer / Peyton Gigante Photography Provided
In the last year, finding joy and hope in good deeds has helped keep some optimism as all of our lives changed drastically.
And though it varies family to family, coronavirus hit in all aspects of life. For Hamilton County’s Fueled for School, these good deeds have been incredibly helpful over the past year.
First grader Sam Abbott, as well as his friends in North Harbour, wanted to do a good deed. Over Labor Day weekend, their lemonade stand raised $1,070 dollars for Hamilton County’s Fueled for School.
The Lemonade Stand was run during the annual Harbour Trees Labor Day Golf Tournament, and golfers donated throughout the day, making a stop for some free food and lemonade.
Sam and his friends recognize the importance of Fueled for School and their mission: “eliminating hunger in Hamilton County by providing food insecure youth with nutritious meal packs and ensuring access to nutritious food and drink.”
Partnered with Noblesville Schools and Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, Fueled for School uses the kitchen at Ivy Tech as well as their storage space to prepare their meal packs and better provide to students and families.
In 2017 alone, they provided 136 students with 2.5 pounds of nutritious food every weekend for 14 weeks. This number was then doubled in the year after, serving around 350 students with a 2.5-pound weekend meal pack almost weekly.
And the money that Sam and his friends raised, fed over 200 kids for an entire weekend. Impressive on both the donators, and the kid’s parts.
“In the upcoming weeks, the children in our meal program will receive nutritious soup, fruit, vegetables and pasta because of the generosity shown by Sam and his friends,” says Kristina Trusty, President and Founder of Fueled for School.
Serving things like over 15 pounds of bacon, a variety of doughnuts and cookies, and the true lemonade stand staple.
“The best part about all of this has been that the kids know what they did meant something larger than just having a lemonade stand,” says Mike Abbott, Sam’s dad.
“We made my favorite lemonade,” says Sam. Simply because no lemonade stand is complete without Country Time.
Together with his dad Mike and neighbor Chris Hoffman, they built the now very recognizable lemonade stand.
“Fueled for School’s Covid-19 relief began just two days after school closures in March,” says Trusty. “Volunteer teams following social distancing protocol worked behind the scenes several days a week to convert the weekend meal program into a daily meal program, focusing on vulnerable children.”
After the money was raised, Sam and mom Sarah, took the money to the volunteers at Fueled for School.
“After we brought the donations, I told him how proud I was of him,” says Sarah. “He told me he was proud of himself, and his friends. He understands the importance of what this is and what they did.”
If you’re looking to get involved with Fueled for School, there is an abundance of information on their website for signing up to be a volunteer. In addition, their Facebook is informative and highlights many of the good deeds and help they get from the community.
“We’re going to do it again next year,” says Sam. “And we’re going to have juice boxes.”
And, it’s easy to assume that together with his friends, Sam will have an even larger turn out next year.
FUN FACTS ABOUT FUELED FOR SCHOOL
• 154,501 pounds of nourishing food including milk, cheese, bread, meat, produce and shelf stable pantry items distributed to children/families.
• Approximately 8,500 children served during Covid-19 relief programming
• Averaging 422 children/week
• More than 4,700 bags/boxes of food distributed
• In one single week at the Ivy Tech campus, Fueled For School distributed 14,400 hot dogs! That’s enough to get from Ivy Tech to The Noblesville Courthouse
Square and back with end-to-end hotdogs!
• Fueled For School provided/distributed more than 22,000 gallons of milk to
Hamilton County pantries (including powerhouse pantries such as White River and Grace Churches) as part of our Covid-19 relief efforts.
• It took 2-3 semi trucks each week to deliver the food needed to run the Fueled For
School COVID-19 programming.
• Fueled For School launched its first ever mobile pantry to reach homebound families as part of our emergency response!
Where Learning Comes to Life!
SPECIALIZED ACTIVITES INCLUDE
STEM Education
PE Classes Technology Education
Music Education
