Inglemoor sophomores use 5k run to raise money for the Woodinville Storehouse food bank

Emma Scharler and Matina Surana at the Woodinville Turkey Trot 5k

Matina Surana and Emma Scharler are sophomores at Inglemoor High School in Kenmore.

They are part of a club, HOSA – Future Health Professionals. They are focusing on a Community Awareness project for the club, and centralizing on hunger in our community.

Emma and Matina participated in the Woodinville Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day and used the opportunity to raise awareness about hunger in their community.

Emma and Matina finished the 5k with their posters intact.

They ran the race wearing large, eye-catching posters that said “Help the Hungry” and included QR codes so people could easily donate to their local food drive at Woodinville Storehouse.

They wanted to make a fun, visual statement that encouraged the community to support those experiencing food insecurity.

By participating in both the parade and the 5k race they got maximum visibility. They wore eye-catching turkey hats, large posters with QR codes and handed out flyers.

Their goal was to collect $1,000 of monetary donations and 200 cans of non-perishables by February 5th for Woodinville Storehouse Food Bank.

But what inspired them? Matina explains:

"Over the summer, I traveled to Nepal-- a 3rd world country located between India and China-- to visit my family. I saw lots of people struggling with food insecurity and I tried to make an impact by cooking extra food and handing it out.

"I came back knowing what life is like for people who are less fortunate, and it opened my eyes to the fact that hunger exists within our community, but is often an overlooked issue. This helped me realize that I wanted to help make a change in my own community.

"While choosing our topic, I asked Emma what her reasoning was for focusing on hunger in our community. 

"She told me that 'Food is a basic survival need-- people should not have to worry about where their next meal is coming from. If one family gets fed because of our efforts, that will be one more family going to bed without an empty stomach than before.

'As a student, I want to use my voice to advocate about issues that affect more people than most of us know.'

"Inspired by our awareness of global food insecurity, our goal is to show the community how they can help make a local change. 

"We are working to reach as many people as possible to educate them on this communal issue."

The girls have raised $525 on a GoFundMe page toward their goal of $1,000.