By Shauna Johnson, WV MetroNews
BELLE, W.Va. — Lessons in generosity don’t just come during the Thanksgiving holiday at Riverside High School in Kanawha County.
Next to Riverside’s cafeteria in a small room that used to serve as storage space for sports equipment, five students work each school day alongside Jessica Workman, a Riverside teacher, to stock the Warrior Food Pantry that’s open to community members and students.
“Any community member can come, we don’t ask them anything,” Workman said of the year-round effort that dates back to the early 2000s at Riverside before she joined the faculty.
Food boxes are packed by request or food is available during monthly distributions.
“If a staff member notices that a student needs food or is hungry, they let me know or let another student know and we make them a box and it’s completely anonymous. Oftentimes, I don’t even know who the student is,” she explained.
A food distribution from the Riverside High pantry for Thanksgiving came earlier this month.