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Hampton assistant principal takes action to help feed students

Posted at 7:17 PM, Feb 18, 2014
and last updated 2014-02-18 19:17:51-05

Hampton, Va. - With the help of the principal and staff at Hampton's Phoebus High, we surprised one of their assistant principals, Shameka Pollard.

Once she entered the school's main office I approached her, identified myself as Kurt Williams of NewsChannel 3 and asked her how she was doing?

"I'm well how are you?"  I told her I was great, and then asked her if she was wondering what's going on?

"I sure do." She responded with a laugh.

I soon shared with her that I got an email from the school's security officer, Tonya Aviles,  who wrote, "Ms. Pollard felt that some of our kids may be missing meals due to not having school, so why not help them out by sending them home with some food and snacks."

This all stems from the holiday break last Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Through Ms. Pollard's efforts, the school was able to provide Thanksgiving baskets for 15 families at the school. We're talking turkey, dressing, the works. It didn't stop there. The school staff and other volunteers also worked on a winter break survival kit and that included breakfast items, fruit, snacks and mac and cheese. They did this for 24 of their students.

Aviles went on to write in her email,  "I felt that she was looking out for our students at Phoebus High School and having a kind heart to help out our students that are in need.

Ms. Pollard is a kind and giving individual and may God continue to bless her and her giving."

And with that heartfelt email, Ms. Pollard gave the school security guard a hug and responded with modesty.

"It wasn't me; we have an awesome team here at Phoebus that cares about our kids  and we'll do whatever it takes to make sure they're safe, they're happy and they're fed."

And because of her efforts we presented Ms. Pollard with a NewsChannel 3 People Taking Action award.

"Ooooh wow thank you so much! This is awesome!"  Plus, we presented her with a $100 Visa gift card from our community partner Southern Bank. "Wowww!  Thank you very much.

Ms. pollard was very appreciative, but for her, this is all about having an awareness about some of her students.

"If they're not here, they're not eating. And we have a need in our building.  I wanted to help with meeting that need."