SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Two young women have made Feeding San Diego history by raising $25,000 to fund a school food pantry for an entire year.
Sydney Scelfo and her best friend, Ava Halls, opened Feeding San Diego's 64th school pantry at Clairemont Canyons Academy.
The two young ladies share a lifelong bond that began before they were even born.
"Our moms were friends before we were even born, so we were bound to be best friends," Halls said.
In the last year, the pair decided to take on an ambitious fundraising project together.
"Raising $25,000 to fund a school food pantry for a year just seems like a really big project, but I knew that I wanted to do it with someone, and doing it with your best friend is obviously a great," Scelfo said.
When Scelfo first proposed the idea, Halls was initially overwhelmed by the project's scope.
"I mean, when Sydney first said we have to raise $25,000, my mouth did drop, and I was like, 'OK, I don't know how we're going to do this,'" Halls said.
However, they made it happen.
Scelfo and Halls discovered that an elementary school right down the road from their high school could use their help.
That school was Clairemont Canyons Academy, and it motivated Scelfo and Halls to work hard by putting on bake sales, throwing car washes, and hosting restaurant raffles to raise the $25,000.
Little did they know what a profound impact their volunteer work would have not just on the school, but on both of them.
"It had a really big impact on us just seeing the people so happy and so grateful when they were receiving the food," Scelfo said.
Principal Victoria Peters said Clairemont Canyons Academy already had existing food programs, including breakfast in the classroom and free and reduced lunch. The new pantry will become an extension of those programs.
Peters noted that 76% of her students qualify for free and reduced lunches, highlighting the diverse economic backgrounds of families at the school.
"We've had families that have a nanny for each child, and then we have families that are homeless," Peters said. "What I really want to focus on the most is that this community just comes together in times of need."
Clairemont Canyons Academy had been on Feeding San Diego's school pantry waiting list until Scelfo and Halls came along.
"We're trying to get to 100 school pantries by 2030, and our waitlist is 52 at the moment, so there's definitely a need," said Allison Glader with Feeding San Diego.
Glader said this pantry will be opened twice a month and will feed 50 families. She noted that what Scelfo and Halls accomplished has never been done before.
"This is a first. [They] have achieved a $25,000 fundraising goal to open a school pantry," Glader said.
The young women are taking time to enjoy their milestone accomplishment.
"It's just crazy to see all of our hard work being paid off right now," Scelfo said.
But they've already got another plan lined up.
"Our goal is to keep it running through the next couple of years, and so I think for us we're raising another $25,000 this year," Halls said.
To learn more about or support Feeding San Diego's School Pantry Programs, click here.
