Ballantyne Families Helping Neighbors in Need

Ballantyne Families Helping Neighbors in Need provides food assistance to families who either work for or whose kids attend one of the nine schools that feed into Ardrey Kell High School. While initiated in 2019, BFHNIN really took off when schools shut down in March 2020, out of a recognized need to serve families whose children depend on school breakfast and lunch. In addition to the food drives that have been run four times/year since 2020, there is now a permanent food pantry that operates out of Community House Middle School, serving as a food resource for families in between the four planned support times. All support requests are managed through the school counselors, so that families may be served anonymously. Ballantyne does not receive many social services, yet there are people in need of assistance, and BFHNIN works to fill that gap. Our organization has also invested in educating our local community about poverty and the misconceptions surrounding food insecurity.