Mountain Brook High School Junior Harper Wilbanks and her mom had a great idea for her sixth birthday. Instead of bringing presents, why not ask them to being a food donation. The rest is history.
What inspired the idea of fighting food insecurity?
Harper Wilbanks: Actually, my mother had the idea. I was having my sixth birthday party, and all the girls in my grade were invited. Roughly 25 to 30 presents in addition to family gifts for a six year old really seemed “too much” to ask…especially so close to the holidays. She didn’t like the idea that it was adding “another thing to do” so we came up with the idea of a food drive. They could literally bring cans from their own pantry if they wanted, and some did.
Where did you take the food to and how did you choose?
Harper: This started when I lived in Tampa, and I donated to Metropolitan Ministries. Since moving to Birmingham, I take the food to the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama.
Now you are donating money to help make an even larger impact. How did that evolve?
Harper: When we moved to Birmingham, I still had a birthday party with a food drive aspect to it, but when I started posting on social media things changed. I had friends and family in other cities who wanted to help! Someone asked if they could Venmo, and everything changed. It was easy for them to donate and easy for me to go shopping for the food. I later learned that if I give the money to the food bank, they are able to buy more than what I was able to get from the store.
How do you reach out to people?
Harper: Social Media. I posted at the beginning of November to let people know Harper’s Harvest had started.
What has this experience taught you about yourself and your friends/givers?
Harper: The best gift you can give is helping others. Even the smallest acts of service/contributions can make a difference, especially in times like these when food insecurity is at an all-time high.
Has this experience caused you to learn more about food insecurity in our city/state?
Harper: Yes, I have learned so much about who needs food assistance and the process of how it works. In Alabama, there are about 750,000 people with food insecurity; 300,000 of whom are children. The money we raise for the food bank provides four meals for every dollar donated.
But if donating money is not something that you can do, and you want to help, then you can volunteer your time. Every little bit makes a difference. I learned today that they have already put together 20,000 holiday boxes for families of four, which provides a week’s worth of food for that family.
What is your Venmo in case someone wants to give? @harperwilbanks
