When a group of eighth grade girls at DeVargas Middle School realized they collected 752 food items during a two-week drive, "They were beyondecstatic excited," says Planned Parenthood Community Health Educator Samia van Hattum.
"Thenwhen I told them how many pounds of food that was, and how many peoplethey potentially impacted, they were just blown away," van Hattum says.---
van Hattum works in the education department at Planned Parenthood, and runs girls groups in Santa Fe middle schools with the aim of empowering young women and teaching them life skills. The program hopes to teach the girls leadership skills, effective communication, how to make healthy decisions, and how to have healthy friendships and relationships. As part of that effort, van Hattum led 10 DeVargas eighth grade girls in a service learning project of their choice.
"This is helping them understand that eachof us as a person is part of a larger community," van Hattum says. "The decisions wemake affect the community around us."
This type of education and experience is important because it helps increase school retention rates and decrease teenage pregnancy rates, van Hattum says.
First the girls brainstormed about how they would change their school and the city of Santa Fe if they were in charge. Then they were tasked with designing a project that would actually make a difference right away.
The girls decided they wanted to help the homeless, so they researched the situation in Santa Fe and what services are available. Having heard that the Food Depot had experienced a food shortage, they decided to do a food drive.
The girls made announcements over the school intercom and stood up in front of their classes every day to encourage donations.
"My entire truck was completely full of food," van Hattum says. "It was amazing."
The girls collected enough food for 929 meals, according to the Food Depot's conversion.
"That was very exciting for me to go back to the girls and say, 'You know, this little project you did will feed almost 1,000 people,'" van Hattum says.
School nurse Sharon Keyes, who helped coordinate the project, told van Hattum she believed it was the most successful food drive the school has ever done. The girls also impressed van Hattum with their skills and enthusiasm.
"They are bright and they are articulate and they are a lot of fun to work with," van Hattum says. "With taking on this project, they were so passionate and so driven...I felt they were really flourishing doing this project. They're very high energy, very smart. One of the things I love about the group at DeVargas is they're very supportive of each other."
