Student volunteers dedicate time to help out at Harvest Hope

Columbia, S.C. (WOLO) — Dozens of students dedicated several hours Tuesday to help a local food bank with organizing and packaging food to be distributed.

The Summer Student Program, run through the Columbia VA Health Care System, is an eight week program that gives high school and middle school students opportunities to volunteer.

“We’re teaching them, in addition to giving back to the veteran community, to give back to our local community here. So they volunteered to come and participate at the food bank,” said Robert Kappel, a voluntary service specialist with the VA.

“My favorite part about volunteering is the feeling of ‘wow, you did something good for somebody today.’ That always feels nice,” said Abigail Starks, one of the student volunteers.

Student volunteers at Harvest Hope.

Almost 40 students helped sort, organize and package foods at Harvest Hope Food Bank, which is just one of the opportunities the volunteers have during the program.

“The goal is for the students to donate 120 hours in that period, and a lot of our students are returns. They come back year after year,” said Kappel.

“These kids are helping us feed the community. There’s so many people here in South Carolina that aren’t able to have access to food,” said Kara Hernandez, the volunteer coordinator at Harvest Hope.

The students said they’re happy to spend part of their summer vacations giving back to the community.

“It’s always nice to give back to the community, and to help others. And, while it might not mean a lot to you, it can definitely mean a lot to other people,” said Starks.

“Coming in, I drove a van full of them and it was very quiet. But I know when we leave, there’s going to be a lot of talk about moving all this food, how much they did, and how fun they had and enjoyed giving back,” said Kappel.