Teacher Support Through Grocery Giveaways
Topic: Teacher Support (First-Year, International)
Rock Hill Schools, in partnership with community support, work to ease the cost of expenses for first year and international teachers. The result is having employees who feel supported and cared for by the district allowing them to focus on working, caring for students and showing up as their best self for work. This also supports teacher retention, climate and culture.
Overview
As new employees begin their careers with Rock Hill Schools, it is important for them to feel supported by an employer. The district recognizes some employees’ welcome relief from their grocery bill until the first paycheck is issued. To combat food insecurity, the district has partnered with the local food bank to ensure each new employee has access to enough groceries from their orientation until the first paycheck comes. Grocery giveaways include a variety of items such as fresh produce, meat and non-perishable items. First-year teachers, support staff and bus drivers are also invited to participate in grocery giveaways throughout the year including around the holidays.
Reception of Groceries
Teachers are grateful to receive the help and have expressed how thankful they are to have the district stand in the gap. While not all teachers take advantage of the offering, many who are either a single-income household or straight out of college are able to accept the support.
Community Support
One of the community focus areas for our entire metro area includes combating food insecurity. Being able to ensure our employees are able to put healthy, nutritious food on the table is just one aspect of combating the issue we can take. This effort, coupled with free breakfast and lunch for our students, hits food insecurity in different capacities. This is a cause our community cares deeply about.
The “Secret Sauce”
1. Find a trustworthy, sustainable community partner.
2. Offer the benefit to a wide group of people knowing many may not accept it
3. Groceries are bagged and then loaded into cars in a drive-through type of event usually in a car rider line area after school hours
4. Invite both school-level and district-level officials to load groceries into vehicles.
5. Service with a smile – make sure volunteers working the event are cheerful and helpful.
More Resources
Download the toolkit or explore more Project Raise Your Hand resources.
Going Deeper
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Toolkit
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