Nicole Torello (’24)

Inside RMHS, two ambitious juniors have decided to take hunger in the community into their own hands. 

Started by juniors Clay Chase and Jack Chapin, Project Provisions aims to “assist the people in need within our communities.” In an email interview, Chase shared that the group’s goal is to “donate goods, volunteer assistance, and do whatever means necessary to aid hungry individuals.” The club collects any non-perishable food items, which can be dropped off at the houses of the club leaders or brought to meetings.  Project Provisions will then donate these items to local food banks or soup kitchens. 

Chapin and Chase were motivated to start the club because they noticed that there were not many food-drive-based clubs at RMHS, and they were met with plenty of agreement. The first meeting for Project Provisions was far from short on attendance, bringing in over 30 people across a variety of grade levels. When asked about measuring the success of the club, Chase answered,  “Our club will keep track of the amount of items that we donate. After analyzing the first couple of months, we will set donation benchmarks/goals that we will strive for. At the core of it all, we simply hope to donate as much as we can.”

In the future, Project Provisions wants to expand beyond simply gathering provisions. They are looking to “arrange meal-making activities” where they would “organize groups of kids to make brown bag lunches and dinners and ship them off to My Brothers Table.” Further down the line, they hope to send club members to soup kitchens to help prepare, package and distribute meals.

Although this club hopes to function like other RMHS service clubs, it also hopes to learn from them. “Seeing the successes and failures of other clubs across our school guided us through the creation of ours. We hope to both recreate the good and eliminate the bad,” wrote Chase. Project Provisions is a great way to get involved with helping people in the community You do not have to donate to become a member, to get involved in Project Provisions, you simply have to show up. Chase claims, “We have a strong core group of leaders in the club and a great sense of community. We hope to lay the groundwork for this club and pass it down to responsible friends and classmates.” 

Meetings for Project Provisions are held most Wednesdays at 8 a.m. in room 328.