BOARDMAN, Ohio (WYTV) — From establishing a food pantry to paying for kids to get eye exams, this weeks Hometown Heroes have put in their effort to help students at Boardman Center School.
Inside of Boardman Center School sits a stocked food pantry — filled with all kinds of non-perishables like soup and mac and cheese — which has been there since 2016 thanks to the Boardman Lions Club.
“They did fundraisers. They raised money. They bought the food for us. They bought all the shelving in here. They kicked everything off,” said Mindy DePietro, guidance counselor for Boardman schools.
There’s now two rooms full of food, where the kids come through at the end of the day and one used as a stock room — all provided by the club.
“In the past, we even given some cooking demonstrations, show them how to pick up this item and put it with this item and put it with this item and you’ve got a dinner,” said Terry Shears, with the Boardman Lions Club.
Two members — Nancy Golubic and Kathy Vogrin — put a lot of effort into the food pantry.
“[They] are here two, three, four times a week, in the morning, inventory everything, checking for expiration dates, making sure everything is ready to go for the kids, stocking the shelves,” DePietro said.
“It feels pretty good to know that you’re helping a kid out that isn’t in the best situation,” Shears said.
In September, over 1,000 Boardman schools kids between kindergarten and third grade their eyes examined; the Lions Club paid for the testing camera, which cost about $6,000.
“Blindness, glaucoma and diabetes is the main focus of the Lions Club,” said member Judy Jones.
Jones has personal experience with eyesight in her family.
“My grandson was 2 years old and we had him checked, having no idea there was anything wrong with his eyes. He see as good as we could tell,” Jones said. “Anyway, we found out he couldn’t see out of one eye completely.”
From the eye exams to the food pantry, and everything in-between ….
“We just like to take care of our own community, our schools, the food, everything,” Jones said.
