Make a Difference Food Pantry receives 1,200-meal donation
By Kirsten Ballard
Published in News on June 18, 2015 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Mackenzie Hinson, 10, lifts one of the 74 bags of food filled at Make a Difference Food Pantry Tuesday. These bags will be given out today to families in need. Each bag contains food that will provide a family of four with four meals, including a protein, pasta and a sauce, three cans of vegetables, peanut butter, breakfast, two snacks, canned fruit, a starch, and each family has a choice of a variety of fresh produce, bread and a dessert.
Mackenzie Hinson walked into Food Lion on Sunday afternoon thinking that she was only going to be grocery shopping with her family.
But something bigger was in store for the 10-year-old who launched the Make a Difference Food Pantry.
The Mar Mac Food Lion at 118 Five Points Road actually donated 1,200 meals to help the pantry she pioneered.
Not only did this donation amount to 1,500 pounds of food, but it will sustain the food pantry through the seemingly sparse summer months.
Before the donation on Sunday, Mackenzie's mother, Paige, says her daughter was worried about how she was going to make it another month.
The Hinson family has been busy with fundraisers and applying for grants to sustain the rapidly growing pantry.
"What isn't donated she has to fundraise," Paige explained.
"She was very upset she would not have enough money in her account," Paige said.
Mackenzie has hosted several benefit nights at Zaxby's in Smithfield and hosted a dance fundraiser in May that raised $250.
The Optimist Club also hosted a food drive for Mackenzie.
And on June 23, Zaxby's in Goldsboro will host another fundraiser for the food pantry.
The Food Lion donation means that Mackenzie's efforts will not fall by the wayside this summer when the demand for food is on the rise.
Knowing that the pantry will make it through provides peace of mind to the young girl.
"I was so surprised," Mackenzie said. "There are not words. It was such a wonderful thing."
The summer is an especially crucial time for Make A Difference Food Pantry because children are out of school and that means the meals that were provided through the school system are not available.
"School is out, demand is up," Paige said.
During the summer, the food pantry will be open on the second and fourth Thursday of the month.
Mackenzie has not only contacted local churches and organizations to help in her mission to feed her neighbors, but she has also called upon Sen. Don Davis and even Gov. Pat McCrory.
Knowing the importance of school-provided meals to hungry children, she even questioned the governor about why every child in the state could not receive a free breakfast at school.
It is Mackenzie's passion to provide a bit of security to those in need, and it was her leadership at such a young age that caught the attention of the representatives from Food Lion.
Erin DeWaters of Food Lion says that the stores partner with food agencies in the area to help alleviate hunger and assist in sustainability.
"We're impressed that Mackenzie is a person -- at such a young age -- being a leader," Erin said.
The grocery chain, based out of Salisbury, executes a zero-waste policy and donates food that needs to be moved quickly.
Paige and representatives from Food Lion worked together to surprise Mackenzie Sunday.
Her mother had been in the loop, emailing representatives at Food Lion for a few weeks about the plans in an effort to hide it from her daughter.
"It's hard to pull something over on her," she said laughing.
But they did.
It started as a request for a partnership with Food Lion corporate, but it ended in the donation of 1,200 meals, which was even a surprise to Paige. She was told they were only receiving 200 meals.
At the donation on Sunday, Miss Greater Southeastern Victoria Huggins was there, and sang Mackenzie "Because You Love Me." Mackenzie is her princess for the Miss North Carolina pageant and will dance for her during the pageant event this weekend.
"Everyone was crying," Paige said.
After the ceremony, the Hinsons loaded up the pallets of food and brought them to the building behind the church. It took them 20 minutes to unload.
Mackenzie's food pantry will be partnered with the Food Lion in Mar Mac indefinitely. Paige says they are waiting on the partnership to be finalized in 60 days.
Last month, the Make a Difference Food Pantry served 132 families. When it opened April 16, they only served 35 families.
The growth has been so significant that the food pantry will have to move out of Black Jack Grove Original Free Will Baptist Church on Aug. 1.
"I outgrew it," Mackenzie said. "There just isn't room."
They are considering a few places and are trying to apply for grants to help with the rent, but no matter where they move, they will stay in the Mar Mac area.
Mackenzie wants to stay in the community that she was raised in and continue to serve her neighbors.
The food pantry started as a home-school project, when Mackenzie learned about the lack of food distribution sites in Wayne County and the astonishing number of children in Wayne County going hungry.
As a child herself, Mackenzie is sensitive to childhood hunger.
For July and August, she plans to tuck books into the bags of food for families with children to encourage reading.
She has partnered with Grantham, Cox, Lee and Parker Farms for fresh produce donations.
Her mother says that they learned very early on that cheap food and healthy food are not synonymous.
Mackenzie wants to provide healthy, fresh options for her clients.
She lists the available produce on the welcome sign in front of the pantry. The sign reads "Welcome to Make a Difference Food Pantry" with each "O" filled in with a smiley face.
The pantry will be open from 5 to 6:30 p.m. today at the Black Jack Grove Original Free Will Baptist Church.