Oakland Elementary fights food insecurity: New food pantry open to community

OAKLAND, Ky. – One Warren County elementary school is fighting food scarcity both within its building and within the community.

Thanks to Oakland Elementary School’s Family Resource Coordinator and one local Good Samaritan, the Cardinal kiddos are able to stand up to hunger by welcoming their brand-new food pantry.

“Food insecurity is definitely one of our biggest needs that we have,” explained Family Resource Coordinator Sarah Carnes. “And so I decided to ask Keith, now that he’s in firefighter retirement, to help me out and to build a food pantry for Oakland. Our kids are super excited about it. I’ve had a lot of positive feedback from the parents about it as well.”

When asked why he offered his services, Keith Pott said, “I’ve always tried to help out the community and stuff since I was a little kid, and then whenever Sarah asked me this and she offered to pay., I said that I don’t want the money. I’m just going to do it. I want to be able to give back. I’ve been blessed and I just want to give back to the community.”

Thanks to the school’s new canned food drive, the pantry is already gaining traction.

“So, the hope would be that it’s a give and take – that we can have families that maybe have a little extra or bought some new soups and your kids don’t like it. Now we have a donation spot for it so that they’re able to come and open and take what they need, when they need,” said Carnes.

This food pantry is welcome to both students and community members.