DURHAM, N.C. — For the 10^th year in a row, Durham teacher Turquoise LeJeune Parker is helping students who experience food insecurity.

A nonprofit she founded, Mrs. Parker’s Professors Foodraiser, has packed over 4,800 bags of donated food, providing thousands of students with food over winter break.

This biannual event happens during the spring and winter breaks for students.

Parker wasn't planning to start a nonprofit when a parent asked her for help in 2015.

“The mom came and asked me if I knew where she could get food for the two-week winter break, and I immediately went home and asked my husband if we could take care of them. I knew he would be down with it,” she said.

The nonprofit grew from helping one parent to packing thousands of pounds of food for students who receive free or reduced lunch at over 10 elementary schools in Durham. Parker has the help of volunteers from sororities, fraternities, high school bands and community members to pack the bags each year.

Parker carefully chooses the nonperishable food items to ensure she includes all families and their needs, considering some might not have a stove. The bags include packet oatmeal, Kraft macaroni and cheese cups, ramen noodles, bread, baked beans and cereal.

Each bag includes donated food items such as canned green beans, crackers, granola bars and bread. (Spectrum News 1/Eleanor Saunders)

Parker is glad she can help her students because she views each of them as her own child.

“These are my babies. I have two children of my own, but before I had them, these are my babies,” she said. “And I treat them just as if they are mine, and I think I couldn't, I couldn't be comfortable through that winter break knowing that they wouldn't be taken care of, that they would be uncomfortable.”

Durham is not the only place people are experiencing food insecurity. Consumer food prices at home reached an all-time high in 2022, but have declined significantly since then, affecting families across the United States, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In North Carolina, more then 60% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals, said the National Center for Education Statistics. Nonprofits across the state are providing funds or meals to help students who experience food insecurity.

Visit the following links for more information on nonprofits and programs near you:

• Carolina Hunger Initiative
• Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina
• North Carolina State Nutrition Action Coalition