East Valley School District starts food, clothing bank for students | News

School has only been back in session for a few weeks but the East Valley School District is already busy helping kids in need.

The district recently started a food and clothing bank for kids who need assistance. This project got started thanks to Darsi Bankey, who runs the only Teen Parent Program in Spokane through the East Valley School District.

"Itstarted in my basement with my own kids and we filled backpacks for 5 kids and then it turned to 20 and it started rolling and now we have a food bank and clothing bank," Bankey said.

Bankey saw a need and acted. Now she's relying on teens from the Teen Parent Program to take over the reins.

"Some of these teen parents have received a lot and this is their chance to learn how to give back and learn the skills dealing with financing a food bank and running a food bank," Bankey said.

Each week the teens will fill backpacks with food and fresh vegetables from the district's community garden. Those backpacks will be sent home to families struggling to put food on the table.

"It ties in the community garden, it ties in our student learning, it ties in our needs in the district," Bankey added.