Wallace State OTA students support Secret Meals project
HANCEVILLE, Ala. — Thanks to the efforts of students in the Occupational Therapy Assistant program at Wallace State Community College, at least 20 children in Cullman city and county schools will have food sent home with them every weekend for the entire school year.
Students in the Health Science program at Wallace State collected more than $3,300 in donations for the Secret Meals for Hungry Children project run by Alabama Credit Union. The goal of Secret Meals is to decrease the number of hungry children in the area who may have food insecurity during the weekend. Toward that end, the group provides nonperishable food items that are placed in the students’ backpacks at the end of the week and sent home with them over the weekend.
OTA class president Olivia Parsons of Alexandria said their instructor Rachel Gooch raised funds for the program in the past. “We kind of adopted it,” said Parsons.
“Being occupational therapy assistants, we serve those areas of kids that may be in need for early intervention, and some that aren’t fed or don’t come from the greatest backgrounds are at risk for that,” class reporter Hailey Phillips, of Cullman, said when asked about their choosing to support the Secret Meals project. “So, we think it’s really important that these kiddos are getting fed so they can come to school well nourished, so they can focus in class and make good grades.”
Gooch said she presented the project during the students’ Pediatric Treatment Planning class in their first semester. “If your student or your client or your patient’s basic needs like hunger and thirst are not met, they’re not going to be able to meet their occupational therapy goals; they’re not going to be able to participate in treatment if those basic needs aren’t met first,” Gooch said. “So, that’s kind of why we wanted to take this on, to meet those basic needs so that the children in our community can develop appropriately.
“I think food insecurity is something not a lot of people are aware of, especially if you’ve never been through that” Gooch added. “So, I think this partnership opened the eyes of some of our students and I hope that’s something that they’ll carry with them through their career.”
The students sold calendars provided by Secret Meals and accepted donations. They raised part of the funds as a Serve Project during the college’s PULSE initiative held in early October, setting up tables at the two Walmart locations in Cullman County. They also sold the calendars at their fall conference.
“This relationship that we’ve established has just been awesome,” said Laurie Legg of Alabama Credit Union. “These girls and guys have done an awesome job and we just thank you because it takes a lot to make this happen. It takes a lot of people doing a lot of different things. I hope next year we can do it again.”
Gooch added how proud she is of the students who took to the project with such passion. “I’m extremely proud of them,” she said. “Serving the children in this area has been a passion of mine since I graduated from this program, so to pass that on to them makes me tear up a little bit.”
Program Director Laura Smith added her appreciation to the students’ efforts. “This is my first year serving here, so to come in and have this kind of an impact on the community is awesome,” she said. “I think that’s a big thing about Wallace State, what a huge impact it has on the community.”
Wallace State is also addressing hunger and food insecurity among college students through its Lions’ Kitchen Food Pantry and other initiatives.
The Secret Meals for Hungry Children project helps feed about 200 children in Cullman city and county schools each year. For more information, visit www.secretmeals.org.
The Wallace State Occupational Therapy Assistant program is an associate degree program which can be completed in five semesters. Applications for entry in Fall 2020 will be taken from March 1 to June 1. Visit www.wallacestate.edu or call 256.352.8000 for more information.