Megan Higgins, '21 Gives Back Through Self-Created Food Drive for Harvest Hope

The CCES community has a strong desire to give back to the community that gives so much to us. Megan Higgins, Class of 2021 and current CCES senior, showcased this inclination towards service through a self-created food drive for Harvest Hope Food Bank. In June, while researching places in the community where she could volunteer, she discovered that the financial effects of the pandemic meant that many families could no longer put food on the table. Harvest Hope, South Carolina’s largest food bank, used to serve an average of 120 to 150 families a day. However, after COVID-19, they now work to serve around 500 families daily. “I was looking for a way to help my community and talked to someone from United Way about where would be the best place to volunteer and she said the most urgent need right now is food. Many people have lost their jobs and are now looking to Harvest Hope for help. I decided the best way I could effectively help was to host a food drive,” Higgins stated. 

She worked through the logistics with a couple of friends and focused on areas that would need to be altered out of safety for both the participants and herself. They would need a way for the participants to pass their donations over to her without breaking social distancing rules. “During the food drive, my friends and I all wore masks and gloves when getting the goods out of cars,” said Higgins. “I told people to stay in their cars and have their goods already in their trunk so I could just take the goods out of their trunk and we would never have to be closer than six feet to anyone donating.” Once deciding on their plan of action, they took to the streets and placed informational fliers in mailboxes all around her neighborhood to generate participation. 

Thanks to the careful planning of Higgins and her friends, the food drive was a complete success; it lasted for two days, collecting 843 pounds of food and raising $1000 total. The CCES community is proud of Megan Higgins, and students like her, and is excited to see how students will continue to positively impact their community each and every day.