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Claflin donates thousands of food items for hungry children

Claflin University's sports teams packed two vans with 10,987 food items to help with the filling station's mission.

ORANGEBURG, S.C. — Children who do not get enough to eat face a higher risk of health conditions and may struggle in school.

"Hungry children can't learn; it's difficult to do that," explained Orangeburg County School District Director of Student Services Hayward Jean. "In our community, that's one of the challenges we face, and it's an issue the filling station has been trying to resolve over ten years ago."

The Orangeburg County School District Filling Station relies on $2,500 a week in donations to make sure students in Orangeburg County have something to eat. 

This week, Claflin University's sports teams packed two vans with 10,987 food items to help with the filling station's mission.

"I have no words," said Into the Mouths of Babies' treasurer Melissa Cain. "This will make bags for almost three weeks!"

RELATED: Orangeburg school district lending a helping hand in the battle of hunger

Credit: WLTX

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Claflin's Associate Athletic Director, Matisse Lee, and head volleyball coach, Chymaine Guinyard, say food insecurity is an issue in the county. They set a goal to pack just one van, but donations started flooding in to see which athletic team could donate the most.

"The young lady who is standing next to me is the head coach for the volleyball team; they collect 4,000 items alone," said Lee. "I don't think there is any more applesauce in Orangeburg County. We even had one baseball player who donated 397 pieces of food by himself."

Due to the pandemic, children may not know when their next meal may come. Members of the filling station say Claflin's support in their mission is tremendous.

"If you have, then your neighbor can have, and that's what it is all about," said Lee. "It's sharing and caring; that's what they teach in elementary school. As long as if we have as a Claflin Community, we are more than welcome to share with our Orangeburg Community."

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