Seniors Ally Leduc, left, and Katie Williamson, at South Burlington High School’s new food shelf, which they launched shortly before the school’s winter break. Photo by Sophia Balunek This story by Sophia Balunek was first published in The Other Paper on Jan. 22, 2026.j 28% of students th is year in the South Burlington School District qualify for free or reduced lunch, which means they are living at or below the poverty line, according to data presented at a November school board meeting. As Vermonters faced new levels of food insecurity when Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, or 3SquaresVT, were threatened in October, several families in the district reported they did not have transportation to the South Burlington Food Shelf, and some immigrant families said they didn’t feel safe going to a food shelf, according to Monica Desrochers, the high school’s director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Anti-Racism, and Social Emotional Learning who gathered the data. She brought this information to senior Ally Leduc, one of two student representatives on the school board, who took the initiative to start an in-house food pantry in the high school along with senior Katie Williamson. “I think a lot of people walk around the school not really aware of our poverty rate and how many students are actually living in poverty,” Leduc said. Now, located in one of the front administrative offices is a table full of shelf-stable foods like soup, pasta, tuna and peanut butter, along with a pile of mid-sized backpacks. The room is unlocked and open. In order to mobilize quickly so students could take home food for winter break, Leduc and Williamson collaborated with multiple clubs to gather a food drive, including the Student Justice Union, Student Council, Key Club, Student Ambassadors Program and community service. “It’s cool to have so many different leaders within the school that usually are kind of disconnected, doing their own thing, all coming together for one cause,” Leduc said. Students who are food insecure are invited to fill the backpacks with food and bring it home, returning the bag later. The organizers say it’s common for students to carry around multiple backpacks, which ensures a level of anonymity. Having to access an area with a designated staff keyholder could be a big barrier for some students, Leduc said. “For someone to be like, ‘Hey, my family is food insecure,’ that could feel uncomfortable to have that conversation unless it’s a trusted adult,” she said. “So, they can come in on their own.” The placement of the room in this part of the school is purposeful, as opposed to next to the library where the care closet is, for example. “It looks more discreet if you want to come in and grab food and you don’t really want anyone to notice,” Williamson said. The school has run food drives before, but this is its first in-house food pantry, and organizers are working to flesh out details on how to make it known to students that they can access this resource, while ensuring it’s used respectfully. “What our spring work is,” Desrochers said, “is helping students understand what is the difference between, like, me being hungry during the day and just wanting a snack because I want some Goldfish and I don’t want actual lunch, versus me being food insecure.” Leduc and Williamson said they have a lot of trust in their peers to understand the food shelf’s purpose, and they think students would “recognize the boundaries around it.” With Williamson as president of the Key Club — a community service group that works in the surrounding neighborhood and has organized many food drives — and Leduc on the school board, they were able to push their idea through the administrative approval process quickly, and they said it’s been well received and supported. Their peers have confidence in them as student leaders, too. “We’ve made it known with the student body that we’re trustworthy people, and if that’s a thing they feel uncomfortable with, there’s confidentiality,” Leduc said. Desrochers said the initiative is student-driven, with two other student ambassadors — Ella Stein and Naba’a Hussein — helping Leduc and Williamson kickstart the project. “I don’t take any credit for this. This is all them,” Desrochers said. Read the story on VTDigger here: South Burlington students start school food pantry for classmates. ...read more read less