Head of school update 11/2
Dear Odyssey Community,
The Federal Government shutdown has already affected many members of our community. With the shutdown come choices on the part of the Presidential administration with respect to funding to individual programs. The current administration has decided to stop funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Although a court decision has mandated that the administration use available funds to keep this assistance flowing, SNAP will soon stop for the 42 million people it currently serves. Our staff, high school student government, and middle school student council have decided that Odyssey must act to help. We are organizing a food drive and we have secured a distribution method with a local partner so that our school community can do our part to make a difference. Initial information about the drive is listed below; in the next week you will receive more information and direction about how you and your family can support each classroom to meet our school goals. If your family would benefit from food assistance, we can help. Please reach out directly to Anne at atomlanovich@odysseycommunity.org
Our choice of a local partner is intentional. Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church is a proven community leader in serving affected communities. After Helene, GCPC secured public and private funding to give millions of dollars of rent assistance and they have kept a food distribution bank open to this day. The timing is perfect because some of their sources of food have been drying up. Odyssey contributions will make a difference and will get food to the people who need it. In addition, the pastor and leadership of GCPC are equity leaders in Asheville, specifically calling out and working to dismantle white supremacy in our community.
As we work together on this food drive, it is important to dispel some myths about SNAP that exist to blame beneficiaries and demonize folks in need. A common myth is that SNAP recipients do not work. In fact, ⅔ of recipients do work; the problem is that their jobs do not pay enough to feed their families and many full time workers also qualify for SNAP. Embarrassingly, this situation applies to many school staff in our region. SNAP is not a welfare program, it provides nutritious food to any family or individual who qualifies. Also, there is no evidence that the SNAP program is abused; the SNAP fraud rate is estimated to be 3%. Finally, SNAP is subsistence level funding–it does not fund expensive food. The average SNAP benefit is just over $6 per person per day.
Thank you in advance for caring about our community, recognizing our privilege, and acting to help!
With Gratitude,
Anne and Peter
