Dublin Police Officer Scott Brown was a school resource officer in Marion when he initially noticed the link between hunger and classroom performance in children and teens and wanted to do something about it. Upon arriving at Dublin Scioto High School, he started work on a nonprofit called Food for Thought to help combat this issue.
Scott Brown
Primary pieces
Brown previously held roles in law enforcement dealing with hostage negotiations, drug interdiction and traffic violations, and was deployed with the military in 2004. These intense experiences prompted a change in Brown’s career goals. He wanted to spend more time with his family and to give back to the community.
After more than a decade in Marion, Brown came to Dublin. Four years ago, he obtained the role as Scioto’s School Resource Officer, and started taking steps towards Food for Thought.
Getting started
As a school resource officer, Brown had the opportunity to work with Ashley Kanney, the founder of Feed the Kids Columbus, an organization dedicated to providing food to elementary-aged children. Brown saw the need in high and middle schools as well, particularly at Scioto.
With students approaching Brown and other high school faculty with requests for snacks and food, even if they had eaten lunch that day, there was a noticeable pattern between academic performance and hunger in the high school students.
With this in mind, Brown went onto the state’s website to register his new nonprofit, Food for Thought.
Trial and error
Scott Brown
The project jumped off the ground with large donations from the Dublin Education Foundation and Feed the Kids Columbus. Stocked with bags of food, Brown had the beginnings of an impactful program, but didn’t know where to start, or how to access the food-insecure population at the school without overstepping.
He initially placed food bags out for anyone to take, but realized that many of them remained at the end of each day. To break the stigma, Brown enlisted several students to take bags in front of other students to show that taking a bag wasn’t something to be ashamed of.
Brown also made the food bags smaller so that students could fit them into their backpacks for easy transportation.
Over time, he has learned what works for encouraging the students to take the bags. For example, instead of placing the bags out for a limited time, he found that having them out for an entire week yields better results.
Brown has perfected the process and now lines the food bags up in accessible areas around the school, such as the cafeteria and in the student resource room. If a school counselor is aware of a student in need, they can get bags on behalf of the student.
In cases where emergency assistance is necessary, such as after a house fire or a flood, Brown loads bags of food in his police cruiser to deliver the bags to the student’s home.
Creating a community
Scott Brown
Scott Brown
Scott Brown
Scott Brown
Now in its fourth year, Food for Thought has helped many students facing food insecurity, but has also built a connection between high school staff and students, and given them the opportunity to care for one another with a common purpose. As a school resource officer, Brown prioritizes connecting with students and their families. Through Food for Thought, this bond has been strengthened.
“I got the love of my job back (by) getting into something different and seeing the positive impact we can truly have on people,” he says.
Student organizations, such as the National Honors Society and sports teams, volunteer to organize food items and pack them into bags. Teachers have noticed more energy and better performances in the classroom, and students with health needs have also benefited from the snacks Food for Thought provides.
Some students have mentioned that their families love the food items from the bags, feedback that Brown finds very helpful for the packaging of each bag. Through this program, food is reaching not just students, but their family members as well.
“You fill that gap in the community that people don’t always notice is there,” he says.
Scott Brown
A bright future
Food for Thought’s success has brought forth many goals for Brown. He hopes to connect with more schools in the Dublin area, and to work with food pantries such as the Dublin Food Pantry.
To make it easier to accept financial donations, he is working towards registering Food for Thought as a 501(c)(3) organization.
This past Thanksgiving, Food for Thought handed out more than 100 bags of food. Through partnerships and support from Penske Truck Rentals, the Dublin Charity Cup and more local organizations, the program is continuing to change and adapt to meet student needs.
Ali Hartzell is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
