At 15, Evan Polanco has big dreams — not to just help one family, but to change his entire community.
“I want to, you know, improve off of that, gain some confidence off of that, and then do more. Because, I go to a different school, actually than everyone … And I genuinely love to, like, speak about certain things like this, like how we could give back more to our community,” Polanco said outside West Berwick Elementary.
Polanco distributed food to around 125 families on Monday with For the Cause, a nonprofit dedicated to youth leadership in Columbia and Luzerne counties.
Under the blazing sun of a 95-degree heat wave, Polanco said there was no place he’d rather spend his summer.
About 10 kids, including a few with disabilities from SUNCOM Industries, helped hand out produce, turkey and milk. The drive runs every Monday — except June 30 — from June through the first week of August.
“I walk here 30 minutes every day and 30 minutes back. And honestly, it's very much worth it … I'd genuinely rather spend 30 minutes coming and going, rather than just sitting home, relaxing, doing all my usual stuff,” Polanco said.
He said his school, MMI Preparatory School in Freeland, taught him to speak his mind about problems in his community and work to find solutions.
Polanco said he saw the Berwick Area School District posted online that it had partnered with For the Cause for its annual food drive’s sixth year, and he called the district to learn how to get involved. The school had Polanco email For the Cause, which led the organization to invite him for last week’s first food drive of the season and to check out its Berwick Teen Center.
If he was nervous at first about joining a new group of kids, Polanco’s trepidation quickly wore off after he made new friends at the food drive and around the center’s pool table. He even signed up to join its Youth Action Board, so he can run events like the food drive.
“I was very interested in that. Hopefully I get in,” Polanco said excitedly.
Teens between 7th and 12th grade make up the board and choose its members. They oversee the teen centers in Berwick and Bloomsburg and decide their programming, from Halloween carnivals to holding a Mac & Cheese Cook-Off to raise money for families facing pediatric cancer.
Former Board President Kaite Caladie said the advisory board has its own motto: “For the Youth, by the Youth.” She supervised the kids at Monday’s food drive and serves as the alumni association’s treasurer.
Caladie said her journey with For the Cause has been a long one, but every step was worth it. She joined as a freshman in high school for tutoring help and was convinced by her friends to apply to the board.
“I really grew as a person, and I became a leader of my own,” she said.
Now, besides her treasurer position, she works as For the Cause’s marketing coordinator and supervises their teen centers while home for the summer from school.
Caladie’s in her junior year at Susquehanna University and said she’s looking into her next act after graduation.
“It's been a lot For the Cause, but I can't speak highly enough about them. They gave me endless opportunities. That's why I just advocate for youth joining it, getting your foot in the door, and then the rest just follows,” Caladie said.
Berwick youth speak out on growing poverty, food insecurity
Polanco wants to use events like For the Cause’s food drive to take action against poverty and food insecurity in Central and Northeast Pennsylvania. He said he plans to give a presentation at his school about poverty in his community and branch out from there.
“Certain people can’t really live off of their wages,” Polanco said.
About 14.6% of Columbia County residents face food insecurity.
That’s according to Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap, which found that food insecurity in Columbia County rose by nearly 25% between 2019 and 2023.
While families struggle to afford groceries, Caladie said organizations like For the Cause are finding it more difficult this year to obtain food for their food distribution events. She said rising costs for eggs and milk limit what the nonprofit, which relies heavily on teen involvement, can provide. And food banks are stretched thin by community demand.
Environmental crises like bird flu raised egg prices and funding cuts like the loss of $13 million in Local Food Purchasing Assistance funds have pushed food banks to the brink.
Caladie said the Youth Action Board almost had to cancel this year’s food drive because of supply issues. Families started lining up Monday morning for aid at around 10 a.m. The food drive starts at noon.
We were thinking that we might not have been able to pull it off,” Caladie said. “And we found out we [could] do it the week before … but it was a struggle, stress [and] definitely not something we were planning for, but we overcame it.”
She said For the Cause was one of the “lucky” ones.
“I'm sure a lot of places couldn't, [but] we had community members and our community partners [get involved]. We really couldn't be here without them,” Caladie said.
ABOUT THE PROGRAMS
For the Cause’s Berwick Teen Center is open Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Bloomsburg center is open Tuesday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. For more information on the teen centers’ events, visit their website.
For the Cause’s Summer Food Distribution Program is available every Monday, except June 30, from June through the first week of August from noon to 1 p.m. Find updates on their Facebook page.
