Living rooms turned into food pantries in the homes of more than a hundred members of the Young Men's Service League, with moms and sons working side-by-side to fight hunger in the Frisco ISD.
"One in five children in the North Texas area are food insecure which is very sad, and this gave us an opportunity to do something to help them and have an impact on our peers," said Connor Watson, 18, a member of YMSL Impact Frisco Chapter.
The high school senior and his mom, Eve, were among those who packed boxes with food to help the nonprofit Lovepacs Frisco feed some 600 students during the district's spring break next week.
"It's supposed to provide breakfast, lunch and a snack for the kid for a whole week they're out of school," Connor Watson said.
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"Lovepacs Frisco helps feed students in the Frisco ISD who are on free and reduced lunch program when they are on holiday breaks --Thanksgiving, winter and spring break -- to provide them with enough food to cover their breakfast, lunch and snacks for every day they are on break and unable to access those meals from the school," explained Peter Ellwood, who leads Lovepacs Frisco along with his wife Kristen.
YMSL- Impact Frisco chose the nonprofit for its Ultimate Gift Project this year. The goal is to do something transformational for philanthropy, something that it may otherwise not have the manpower or resources to do for itself.
"It's a chapter-wide project, so you get that many moms and sons together, you can really make an impact," said Eve Watson.
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"In the end, they filled 124 for us. And that's 124 kids who won't go hungry this spring break," Kristen Ellwood said.
And in the work of YMSL, another need is met.
The Young Men’s Service League is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit national organization. Members of YMSL are moms and their teenage sons who volunteer together to serve their local communities during his four years of high school. The YMSL-Impact Frisco was founded in 2013 and currently has 206 mother and son members. The mission is to assist, serve, and support those who are in need in our community, develop leadership skills among the membership and promote mother-son relationships.
"I like YMSL because it gives me the opportunity to do community service and spend time with my mom," Connor Watson said.
"I'm a mom of three boys. Connor is my oldest, and as he was going into high school, I was looking for things we could do together because otherwise, they might not want to spend time with Mom," Eve Watson said. "And he's always had a heart for community service. So, when a friend of mine brought YMSL to my attention, I just knew it was gonna be a perfect fit."
"These moms and sons show up big, and they just have the heart to serve," Kristen Ellwood said as she talked about the food boxes that will feed 124 kids.
"They have instilled in these boys this desire to help and so all you have to do is say, 'I need,' and there are hands raising, ready to get there and do the work.
Anyone interested in getting involved with the Lovepacs Frisco community can click here.
If families need assistance, the address is: frisco@lovepacs.org
