Teacher Helps Feed Howard County Families During Pandemic

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Wilde Lake High School Spanish teacher Erika Strauss Chavarria found herself being taught a valuable life lesson when the coronavirus pandemic swept across the nation. She asked her students what they would need in case they couldn't return to school. Many students told her they would need food, not just for themselves but for their entire family, too.

“A lot of them only receive meals at school and that’s all they get all day and so they were really concerned with schools closing about how they were going to sustain themselves, sustain their families,” Erika Strauss Chavarria told WJZ.

Inspired by her brave and brutally honest students, Chavarria asked for help on social media.

“We started a collection of donations, originally they were in my kitchen, and since then has grown to over 7,000 Facebook members, we have hundreds and hundreds of volunteers,” Chavarria told WJZ.

The educator launched Columbia Community Care and with the help of other volunteers including a former Howard County student, they've so far fed upwards of 100,000 people since last spring. According to WJZ, there are two pantries and three distribution centers in Howard County. Volunteers also will deliver to people's homes.

To donate or become a recipient, visit here.