By Tiffany Estrada-Padilla
Hopewell Moravian Church and Parkland High School are about 4 miles from each other, with many of the congregants within Hopewell being Parkland High School graduates. Perhaps because of this connection, Hopewell Moravian consistently finds itself reaching out to help the high school.
Over the years, Parkland High has become less recognizable to the Hopewell alumni. 99% of the student population is economically disadvantaged, with 92.5% of the population being part of minority groups. Hopewell Moravian Church sees the need, especially when a previous church member, Karrie Tuttle, became a Parkland High counselor and asked for meal support for the varsity football team in 2018. Years of feeding the team passed by, and Janice Ray, a member of the ministry, Jared’s HOPE, felt they needed to do more.
Janice, both a lifelong member of Hopewell Moravian Church and alumna of Parkland High School, reached out to MMFA in the summer of 2024 to figure out what FOI grant she could apply for in support of Parkland High. With the help of the previous MMFA summer intern, Venus Radoslovich, Janice decided to concentrate on the school’s ever-growing food and water needs. Janice began her application to the Hunger & Thirst grant intending to help Parkland High in four ways:
Gift Cards for Guidance
Emergencies constantly spring up at Parkland High. As 99% of Parkland’s student population is economically deprived, the guidance department requested help from Jared’s HOPE in supporting their students experiencing family loss and homelessness. Part of the $1,400 grant went to provide ten $50 gift cards to go to the nearby supermarket and purchase what they need.
Student of the Month Breakfast
To recognize students through good behavior, regardless of their academic standing, Parkland began to implement a Student of the Month Breakfast, which, as it sounds, commemorates one student from each department every month based on their actions and activities on campus. Delighted by the idea, Jared’s HOPE ministry used another part of their grant to help pay for one month of Student of the Month meals.
Teacher Appreciation Week
Janice, a retired teacher for low-income schools, understood the struggles teachers at Parkland High face daily. At Parkland, teachers make up most of the PTA, making them the ones who mainly put in their own money to support the school. Jared’s HOPE assembled gifts to share with all the teachers to show their support in one week of the school year.
Teacher Coffee Bar
Jared’s HOPE wanted to support the teachers at Parkland High during the difficult exam period by building a hot chocolate and coffee bar in the teachers’ break room. By God’s blessing, a nearby coffee shop, Bigby Coffee, donated coffee when it heard what the ministry was doing to support the high school. With the assistance of Bigby Coffee and other collaborators, the coffee bar was ready for use.
What Next?
Jared’s HOPE has chosen to save $106.39 for the latter half of 2025 to support the first relationship with Parkland High School: the Parkland Varsity Football team. With the remaining funds, the women of Jared’s HOPE will prepare and cook a meal for the team before one of their games during the fall season.
Through charitable contributions provided by our donors, Hopewell Moravian Church was one of the seven grant recipients of the 2023 Hunger & Thirst FOI fund. In total, $116,600 was gifted to the recipients to combat food and water insecurities in the United States and other parts of the world.
Want to show your support?
Find Hopewell Moravian Church at 701 Hopewell Church Rd, Winston-Salem, NC 27127. Consider donating to the church by clicking here to access their giving portal.
Interested in donating to our Hunger & Thirst fund? Click here to learn more and for direct access to the fund.
