Horse Creek Academy hands out food at YMCA | Hurricane wire

On Friday, October 4, Horse Creek Academy students, teachers and staff handed out hundreds of free lunches at the Aiken County Family YMCA in Graniteville.

Students holding handwritten signs that read “Free Lunches” and “Turn Here!” flanked the entrance to the YMCA, waving to passing drivers and encouraging them to enter the parking lot at 621 Trolley Line Road in Graniteville.

The group began handing out lunches, water and diapers around 10:30 a.m., and within an hour of being prepared, they had donated about 150 lunches.

“We prepared everything,” said Karen Nelson, who teaches eighth-grade English at the school.

Dr. Ann Marie Taylor, a senior student at Horse Creek Academy, said Nelson was the driving force behind the effort.

“We were going to do it at the school, but we decided to do it at the Y because people were already coming here to shower and charge their devices,” Nelson said. “We want to give people some relief, even if it’s just five minutes of normality.”

Over 100 teachers, staff and students signed up for the campaign.

“I love that even our kids said, ‘Hey, this is a need we can fill,’” Nelson said.

They offered regular lunches consisting of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a juice box, a granola bar, a fruit cup, gummies and chips, and a nut-free version with a lunch box instead of a sandwich and without a granola bar.

Nelson said she told YMCA executive director Samantha Whittaker, “if you can give me three tables, I can take them from there.”

Whittaker has stated that she is inspired by the fact that people “see a need and fill it.”

“An out-of-town liner even came and brought people food,” she said.

Whittaker said power was restored to the building on Saturday, September 28.

“We didn’t allow ourselves hot showers, charging stations, hot coffee, food or water,” Whittaker said.

About 15 YMCA employees were able to take part in the classes. Most of them do not have electricity at home, she added.