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During her 32-year career in education, Tracey Hayes has been a part of many meaningful projects. But the Spartan Food Center is a special one. 

“It shows everything a school community can be: caring, welcoming, and committed to helping every student and family thrive,” Tracey said. 

Four years ago, Tracey and her colleagues opened the Spartan Food Center after noticing a stark increase in need among students in the Elmira Heights School District. Since then, the center has taken off – providing 80+ students and families with dignified and convenient food support every year.

By offering nutritious produce, dairy products, shelf-stable food items, personal care items, and household goods at no cost, School Food Centers provide students and their families with a way to get the food they need in an environment they already trust: their school.

“We recognized that some families needed more convenient and consistent access to food – and we wanted to make sure we could give that to them,” Tracey said.

The Spartan Food Center was well-received from the beginning, and there are now three permanent locations across the Elmira Heights School District where students can access food on a bi-weekly or emergency basis. The center originally served about 25 families. It now serves around 80.

But the importance of School Food Centers is about more than numbers. It’s about providing food support with choice and convenience while making sure children and teens are nourished all year long and set up for success inside and outside of the classroom. 

While the impact of the Spartan Food Center continues to grow, so does the need for food support. As the School Food Center expands to serve more students, Tracey is often reminded of how many hardworking families in the school district face rising costs of living and financial hardship. 

“Just the other night, as I laid on my couch after a long first week of school, I scrolled Facebook – and a post caught my eye. An acquaintance of mine, one who has a student in The Heights and utilized The Spartan Food Center, was sharing her thoughts about the price of food and essentials in our current economy. One sentence of her post stood out. It said, in all caps, THE ONLY REASON I WAS ABLE TO KEEP MY HEAD ABOVE WATER AND FEED MY KIDS WAS THE FOOD CENTER AT MY DAUGHTER’S SCHOOL.”

For Tracey, stories like this capture why the Spartan Food Center matters. “We have worked hard to create a culture of access where our families are comfortable asking for help, whether that is on a bi-weekly or emergency basis,” she said.

The Spartan Food Center even goes one step further – providing a community service opportunity and a work-learning experience for students with disabilities. Disabled and nondisabled students work side by side to stock the shelves, prepare orders, welcome families, and load cars for families picking up food.

“We aren’t just feeding people. We are teaching our students to be good human beings by taking care of one another,” Tracey said.

A School Food Center does more than provide groceries. It turns a school into a place where young people gain the skills and confidence they need to build community – by learning how to work together, how to ask for support, and how to provide support.

Interested in supporting a School Food Center in your community? A gift to the Food Bank goes directly to feeding families and children in the Southern Tier through school-based programs like School Food Centers. Learn more about the program or make a gift online.