Paws of Hope, the new food pantry at Pinkston Street Elementary, was filled with well-wishers from the community Wednesday who came out to show support for a program designed to feed a child – literally and figuratively.

The new space has a fresh coat of paint – the school colors, of course – and banners hang on the walls to provide a cheery atmosphere for what organizers hope will be a place where children can learn about healthy foods and healthy habits. But most of all, they can learn that they are cared for.

“It’s about educating the total child,” said Principal Canecca Mayes. “Children can’t learn if they’re hungry.”

But the pantry isn’t just a place where Pinkston Street students can duck in, grab a snack and return to class. Henderson Mayor Melissa Elliott said it’s a place where they can shop for themselves and for their families.

“They don’t just shop for themselves,” Elliott told those gathered Wednesday for an official ribbon-cutting ceremony. “They shop for everyone in their household.” There’s a special emphasis on children who qualify for services from the McKinney-Vento Act, a federal program that identifies schoolchildren who are experiencing homelessness.

It’s been a group effort to get the pantry up and running, Elliott said. From community partners providing resources and school leaders welcoming the project to campus, to teachers and social workers on site to identify students’ needs, Elliott said she has witnessed real collaboration.

Children come to the pantry weekly, where they learn about financial literacy and making healthy food choices. They also get in a little exercise, too – although Elliott couldn’t coax any of the students present to break into their “Veggie Dance” routine.

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Alicia Campbell doesn’t get tired of telling stories about her boys, Ahmad and Rashad. Like the time they went off exploring instead of being down the street playing basketball. It was the only spanking Ahmad ever got, Campbell said.

It was getting dark and the boys didn’t come when their mom called out the front door for them to come home. She drove around the neighborhood, but no luck. She called her husband, Anthony, who was working second-shift, and he joined the search.

“All of a sudden, we see them walking across the neighbor’s yard,” Campbell said on Monday’s TownTalk.

Many moms and dads can relate to the feelings of panic and anger – wrapped in relief – that surely the Campbells felt when they saw their sons were safe sound.

Not nearly as many parents can relate, however, to what the Campbell family experienced on Oct. 2, 2016. That was the day Ahmad was killed – the victim of gun violence.

He was a student at N.C. A & T State and had gone to an off-campus party, Campbell recounted. Some uninvited guests showed up at the apartment and were told to leave. Later on, shots were fired into the apartment. Bullets struck Ahmad and a young woman. They both died. The phone call that the Campbell’s older son got that night changed everyone’s lives forever.

But the Campbells created a foundation in their son’s memory and ahmadcampbellfoundation.org is dedicated to preventing loss of life from gun violence.

Ahmad would have been 30 this year – Nov. 19, to be exact – and Campbell said the foundation is sponsoring a “Sneaker Ball” dinner and dance on Nov. 23 at Southern Charm in downtown Henderson. Tickets are $25. Campbell said she tries to have an event each year to fund scholarships in memory of Ahmad and the other victim.

The mother of the second victim has done a similar thing in Chicago, where they live. The scholarship named in memory of her daughter also bears Ahmad’s name.

Gun violence in our society continues its ugly pattern of taking the lives of too many young people. Campbell said she tries to attend public safety events to help spread the word about the importance of gun safety. Keep firearms locked away – whether in a vehicle or in homes.

“Stop leaving weapons in vehicles,” she said. Being proactive helps guns from getting into the wrong hands.

“It won’t cut down all (gun violence), but it will cut down a lot,” she said.

Campbell said she tells Ahmad’s story because it’s her story. “I’m a mother that is hurting and will hurt forever,” she said.

But telling childhood stories about Ahmad is something of a balm for Campbell. It helps her remember her son and what a kind, humble person he was.

Like the story about him running track at Southern Vance. “He’d disappear after his race,” she said. Come to find out, he was going behind the bleachers to meet a teammate who didn’t have his own spikes.

“Meet me behind the bleachers and you can use mine,” she said. Typical Ahmad.

Visit https://theahmadfoundations.org/ or call Campbell at 252.767.1353 to find out more.

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