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Crock-Pot Project: Combining Efforts to Help Homeless Families

June 14, 2012

Lawton Chiles Middle Academy students talking about crock pots with crock pots behind them while being filmed

Last week, students and administrators at Lawton Chiles Middle Academy presented officials at Polk County Public School’s Hearth Project with crock pots as part of the Crock-Pot Project. The gesture provided homeless families in Polk County with dozens of crock-pots, handmade cookbooks with simple recipes and the ingredients for one of the recipes to accompany each crock pot.  

Lawton Chiles Middle Academy Assistant Principal Michael Sears explains, “We asked what the greatest need was and they stated that the families needed crock pots, because motels did not have stoves to cook. We received a number to assist families that are displaced in the Lakeland area.”

Homeless advocates say more and more homeless families now live in low-cost motels and need a quick, easy way to make a meal.

To fund this project, Lawton Chiles Middle Academy officials solicited funds from business partners Mid Florida Credit Union and Target. 

But for the Lawton Chiles Middle Academy students who participated in the project it allowed them to truly understand how very blessed they are to have a roof over their heads when other teens aren’t so lucky.

According to statistics from the Hearth Project, which partners with the school system in aiding homeless students, nearly nine percent of homeless students live in motels/hotels.

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