I recently surveyed Patriot Pantry. In my survey, I asked people if they had ever heard of Patriot Pantry. 40.6% of people said they had never heard of this service at school. This shocked me since there are donation boxes for Patriot Pantry around the school. 40.6% of people also said they have heard of it but don’t know what it is. Only 18% of people know, confidently, what Patriot Pantry is. 

Patriot Pantry, what is it? Patriot Pantry is a *free* snack service. It provides a healthy snack for students. You can only get one snack a day. They provide things like peanut butter crackers, granola bars, and a few other light snack options. Some classes have donation boxes for Patriot Pantry, such as in AFROTC where students buy boxes of crackers and bars to donate. Mrs. Kyleen Edger is the organizer of Patriot Pantry.

Students can find these free snacks by looking for the Patriot Pantry logo outside of various teachers’ classes. Also, teachers won’t ask questions in order for you to receive a snack, a relief to many. Mrs. Murray, a Patriot Pantry provider, shared, “Patriot Pantry is a wonderful program set up for students at Bob Jones High School. Items such as peanut butter crackers, cheese crackers, granola bars, cereal bars, and hygiene packs are collected by clubs and organizations at the school and dispersed by Peer Helpers to designated teachers. Teachers have small Patriot Pantry signs that are posted outside of their doors so students know they can go to those teachers with no questions asked and grab a snack or a hygiene pack. The Patriot Pantry also works closely with the counselors to make sure students have food packs for the weekend if needed and items to stay clean and confident throughout the week.”

Now, what are students’ opinions on this? Well, when I did my survey, students’ opinions ranged from “It helps” to “I haven’t heard of it.” While going through responses, one opinion stood out to me: “They should be provided with more stuff.” After careful consideration, I understand why there can’t be more stuff. For there to be more stuff, there has to be proper storage, and there also can’t be anything that needs to be refrigerated. There must only be small things like granola bars and crackers in most teachers’ classrooms. Students can find more options in the Counseling area, which has more space. 

In conclusion, this program is helpful because it provides snacks that many need. I like how it is anonymous so no one feels bad about asking. I think Patriot Pantry needs to be advertised more because many people who could use this program might not even know it exists.