You may be planning to gain weight as you feast over the holiday season; but one in four kids in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City schools doesn’t have that option. A pastor at a local church is trying to help.

***Listen to the Story***


Chad Simpkins is the pastor at Varsity Church in Chapel Hill. He and his family moved here a few years ago. They were surprised to hear that child hunger is more common in the community than you might think.

“I grew up in North Carolina in Winston Salem, and I always thought Chapel Hill was this safety zone where there were no issues,” says Simpkins, “To hear that kind of blew us out of the water. So we’ve got to do something about that.”

The church found a handful of different programs to address the issue. One of those programs takes off this weekend for the second year in a row.

Simpkins, church members, and community volunteers are packing 10,000 meals for children in Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Orange County, and Durham. It’s for a non-profit program known as “Feed 10,000”.

“Child Hunger affects so much of a child’s life,” Simpkins says.

“Not just that they don’t have food. It affects their educational abilities, and of course brings a lot of stress to families. This is more than just feeding stomachs. We feel like it’s feeding minds too.”

Simpkins says he doesn’t expect to resolve the issue of local child hunger in one weekend. But he says he hopes it brings awareness to the issue. He says he hopes people are motivated to take action.

“The resources are here,” says Simpkins: “But like me and our family, not knowing that need is there is a big problem. Anything we can do to get the word out, and get people involved to make a bigger dent in child hunger is great. There shouldn’t be a kid here that ever goes to bed hungry.”

300 volunteers packed the cafeteria at SmithMiddle School last year. Simpkins says it looks like they will do the same this season. He says if you want to volunteer, sign up before the spaces fill up.

“We want to make a difference in this community, but we also know we can’t do it on our own,” Simpkins says, “We want to do it with people in the community, whether they’re part of our church or not.”

To find out how you can help click here.