Walking into the Grafton Township food pantry was stepping out of the fishbowl of high school, and reaching out to the real world.

He saw a mother and her three kids gathering their food for the week. Later he would think of the 300 families from our community who rely on the food pantry during hard times. It was a sad scene, sadder to think of so many, so close, who needed some extra help. For all he knew, the next customer could be a neighbor of his.

It never really occurred to him that the people on his street could be starving.

He had been thinking about this for a while. He knew he could handle it on his own, even though he is only a freshman.

It felt good to know he was going to make a difference.

Ryan Czarnecki had never done something this big, but he was prepared.

He walked up to Harriet Ford and presented his plan. He told her all about how he wanted to bring boxes into the freshman advisories to collect food and much-needed toiletries to help out.

Little did he know, he had come just in time. After the holidays is the most difficult time for the pantry.

“No one really donates [after the holidays],” said Czarnecki. “But people need to eat year-round.”

Czarnecki went on to talk to counselor Angie Daurer about how to set up the program, Principal Dave Johnson to approve the program, and Link Crew advisor Angela Zaleski on getting all the freshman advisories on board.

He even talked to Taylor Street Pizza, who is now donating pizza to the advisory class that donates the most.

Last Friday, the process began, with Czarnecki bringing 26 boxes donated from the pantry to every single freshman advisory.

Tomorrow, it takes off. Tomorrow, Ryan Czarnecki starts helping everyone make a difference.