Swampscott Students Learn Valuable Lessons In Feast To Fight Hunger

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — At a time when the message of the Feast to Fight Hunger was perhaps more important than ever, Swampscott Middle School teacher Brandon Lewis decided this was the year he had to bring back the annual event aimed at teaching his students about food insecurity, learn valuable life skills and raise money for My Brother's Table in Lynn.

Lewis, a sixth-grade English teacher, ran the event for nine years at the school before the COVID-19 health crisis. Each year, his students would spend time learning about all the roles of a hospitality business before putting on a gala for friends and family. At the same time, he would try to teach them about where the food comes from and that there are many around them who do not have enough of it.

"The goal is to give them more perspective about how some in their class may not do as well as others because they are here six hours on an empty stomach," Lewis told Patch. "The goal is to teach them how the world really works.

"How do families end up in trouble? I try to get ahead of the idea that the only people in trouble are the ones shaking a change cup. We have to completely switch them off that stereotype. There are people in hungry situations even though they haven't done anything wrong."

Lewis suspended the dinner because of the COVID-19 crisis and then opted against it last year as the schools were just starting to get back to normal after two years of upheaval. But this year he told Patch he realized that if he didn't bring it back for 2023 then the event — and its lessons — were likely gone forever.

So with a strong class of students who he felt would be well-suited for the immense effort involved, he set about a rebirth of the project that Thursday night served about 320 families and friends at Swampscott Middle School and he said raised $2,500 for My Brother's Table.

"We all had an unbelievable time," he said.

Students fill the roles of hosts and hostesses, waiters and waitresses, bussers and even media promotions. There is a dinner served to friends, families and some local VIPs, as well as a silent auction.

"It's real-time learning and problem-solving under the veil of doing something charitable," Lewis said.

He said as some parents and students asked him about organizing the event this year he looked around and realized that many of the issues that spurred him to run it for nearly a decade had only become more immediate.

"When I started, 1 in 18 Swampscott families may have been struggling while now it's maybe 1 in 6," he said. "It's something students aren't going to talk about. They just have to be aware and cognizant that the landscape around here is changing."

His hope is not only to continue the event in Swampscott but that teachers in neighboring North Shore communities will hear about the Feast to Fight Hunger and look to do something similar at their own schools.

"This year I just started thinking that you've got to bring it back," he said. "It meant so much. These kids need it more than ever.

"If you really buy into it, it's really worth it. It's the best project I've ever done."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

*Patch has partnered with Feeding America to help raise awareness on behalf of the millions of Americans facing hunger. Feeding America, which supports 200 food banks across the country, estimates that in 2020, more than 54 million Americans will not have enough nutritious food to eat due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

This is a Patch social good project; Feeding America receives 100 percent of donations.

Find out how you can donate in your community or find a food pantry near you.