#HungerHeroStories
When Miles Smith, a resident of Northern Dauphin County, saw lunches being distributed to children through a local organization, he realized there were many children in his own apartment complex that needed these meals but could not access them due to a lack of transportation to the site. That’s when he had an idea.
Miles reached out to our youth programs team to see if he could set up a similar distribution and immediately became the site coordinator for after school and summer meals on a volunteer basis. He calls his distribution “We Are One” and wants to make sure kids have somewhere to go to get something to eat after school.
“I know there are a lot of young parents living near me, and by helping the kids, I’m helping the parents too,” said Miles.
When the pandemic hit, the children were no longer able to come to the distribution. So Miles went door-to-door delivering meals. He also reorganized his own fridge to increase storage space.
“Things have been very hard for working parents,” he says. “I’m doing my best to make sure kids still get meals. These families count on me. I’m a concerned parent, not only for my own kids, but all kids. Even if only one child smiles, if only one child needs food, working with them and being able to provide that makes it worth it and makes me happy.”
We are proud to honor Miles Smith as one of our 2020 Hunger Heroes. To learn more about our youth programs, visit https://www.centralpafoodbank.org/who-we-are/our-programs/youth/. #HungerActionMonth