Principal Fred Davis delivers snacks to kids in need

WADESBORO — Wadesboro Primary School Principal Fred Davis adds “Uber driver” to his list of responsibilities as he delivers weekend snack bags to students.

Every year since Davis has become principal and even before that, Wadesboro Primary teamed up with two local churches to supply snacks to kids less fortunate.

In the past, students would receive these snack bags from the churches on Friday and take them home for the weekend. But because the churches are now closed, Davis knew he had to do something to fill the void.

“We can’t stop this service,” Davis said. “If kids are hungry they are not learning.”

The school’s social worker and nurse identified the students who are homeless and put them at the top of the list. They also referenced last year’s list of who received these snack bags to determine who is in need of the snack bags.

The school’s donation funds are being used for this service because, according to Davis, it is a priority. Eighteen bags were put together by a district employee and another 90 were donated from a church. In total, there have been about 140 snack bags created for the students.

The bags include juices, pop tarts, cereal, oatmeal, crackers, microwavable popcorn, easy-to-open Spaghettios, and even gummy snacks. Everything provided in the bags are kid friendly, so they do not have to cook a meal for themselves. It should be enough to get the students through the weekend.

According to Davis, kids received similar bags throughout the summer from different programs, but that stopped in August. The need of the snack bags is even bigger now with the pandemic, unemployment and parents getting laid off.

Davis now hops into his black truck on the weekends, drives to the students houses and blows his horn to let them know he is there with a weekend snack bag.

“That’s the joy of this,” Davis said. “Seeing their faces when I come is priceless. The way the world is with safety, the kids want a familiar face.”