Parents facing food insecurity often struggle to balance work and family, leaving them stressed or overwhelmed.  Through the local school counselors, they can connect with Foran High School’s Giving Table, a program that provides the blessing of a hot meal, saving them time, money, effort, and that unneeded stress.

The Giving Table is a club that meets every Tuesday for an hour after school in the culinary room to make food for those in need. The club is run by culinary arts teachers Randy Colin—known by students as Miss Randy—and Ms. Rachel Pangu.

Over the past five years, the Giving Table has provided dozens of meals, alleviating the burden of food insecurity for many families.

“When you know that you have enough and some other people don’t—you don’t build a higher fence, you build a longer table,” Colin says, holding the strong belief that anyone with the opportunity to help someone less fortunate than them should always take it, a clear display of her charitable personality.

Colin also believes it is important to instill this mindset of generosity into young students to create a new generation of people willing to help their community. The generosity at Foran is evident by the number of students who show up every Tuesday with one clear goal in mind—to aid a family in need.

“The family size changes,” says Selina Liu, a junior who has been attending the Giving Table since the beginning of the school year. “Sometimes there are more adults. Their family situation depends on what they’re going through, so we make multiple portions so they have more food for the next day and the day after.”

Throughout the years, the club has prepared a variety of meals—focusing not only on flavor but also on convenience.

“Last time we made chicken pot pie—chicken pot pie and a salad,” Liu added. “We cut up the vegetables and then made a rainbow array on top of the lettuce.”

For many students, participating in the Giving Table has shaped the way they think about their community.

“It’s given me more of an appreciation of what I have,” says Ava Griffith, a junior who has been attending the Giving Table since her freshman year. “Instead of being the one receiving the food, I have the privilege of making it for others.”

Through the dedication of every member and club advisors, The Giving Table continues to nourish families in need while simultaneously inspiring students to carry kindness and generosity beyond Foran’s walls.