A 13-year-old boy from Louisiana, USA, put up a closet filled with clothes, shoes, hygiene products and school supplies at his middle school to help peers in need.
Chase Neyland-Square, an 8th grader at Port Allen Middle School, put up PAM’s Pantry, a small closet behind the stage in his school’s gym, as per WAFB on Aug. 23.
“I know that everybody doesn’t have things and I’m fortunate to have things that other people don’t have,” said Neyland-Square, according to the report. “And I look at it as sometimes, how would I feel in that situation?”
Neyland-Square’s initiative was realized through the school’s Student Program for Arts, Recreation, and Knowledge (SPARK), which was started by principal Jessica Major back in 2016 with the aim of creating young leaders, as per report.
“We ask them what they want to do to make the school better and through that, we have changed drastically some of the things that we do here at Port Allen Middle School,” Major shared.
Major said in a Good Morning America report on Aug. 28 that many of the students in Port Allen Middle School come from low-income households. Some of them, for example, do not have nice clothes to wear to their own graduation.
“We really want the kids to feel like they have somewhere to go when they need something,” said Major. “We only have 215 kids so we’re able to get to know them really well… and try to help them where we can.”
Neyland-Square often helps the staff assemble the clothes in the pantry. He is in charge of organizing the items, while Major and her secretary distribute what is needed by the students.
“My favorite part about helping with the pantry is getting types of clothes and sorting them out to give to various people,” Neyland-Square was quoted as saying in the report.“It makes me feel good because I know that I can make a difference in my school.” Cody Cepeda /ra
RELATED STORIES:
WATCH: Students surprise beloved teacher with ‘Hamilton’ tickets
Mom holds ‘job fair’ for her kids to teach them about money: ‘If you want it, earn it’