A closet behind the stage in the Port Allen Middle School gym is filled with racks of shirts, suits and dresses. There are school supplies, personal hygiene products, even football cleats. All the items are neatly organized by Chase Neyland-Square, 13, an eighth grade student at the school who came up with the idea for it.
"I know that everybody doesn't have things and I'm fortunate to have things that other people don't have, and I look at it as sometimes, how would I feel in that situation?" he told WAFB.
So Neyland-Square came up with the project to help others during the Student Program for Arts, Recreation, and Knowledge, a summer program where students exchange ideas and how to make them happen.
"We ask them what they want to do to make the school better and through that, we have changed drastically some of the things that we do here at Port Allen Middle School," school principal Jessica Major, who started the program in 2016, told WAFB.
The program has also led to increased time for recess, adding student art to the walls in the hallways and updating the school library collection based on student requests.
"We really want the kids to feel like they have somewhere to go when they need something," Major told "Good Morning America."
This is not Neyland-Square’s first altruistic endeavor. He has also hosted dinners for senior citizens and donated 700 pairs of socks to the homeless.
Neyland-Square would like to continue and expand the pantry program.
"I'm hoping one day I can turn it into a non-profit organization," he told WAFB.
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