LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Students at Jefferson County Public Schools are addressing food insecurity in Louisville by transforming a bus into a mobile grocery.
Waggener High School's Black Student Union will soon roll out a grocery store bus for families in Louisville's West end. The bus is part of the student group's food apartheid project.
The bus is currently gutted and ready for renovations. It will soon house shelves, a sink and refrigerator so students can stock the vehicle full of groceries.
"I hope that this bus helps recognize the problem of what food apartheids actually are," said Zamaya Lloid.
Students came up with the idea two years ago.
Waggener High School's Black Student Union will soon roll out a grocery store bus for families in Louisville's West end.
"A lot of kids are affected by the lack of grocery stores in the West End," said Laura Motley, Black Student Union's teacher sponsor. "So it's something that hits home for them. So they' re really wanting to just give back to their communities."
The students raised thousands of dollars to make the idea a reality.
"Just seeing that we've had our voices recognized to the public has just made a huge impact on our communities," Lloid said.
Dare to Care Food Bank will help stock the bus with food through donations. The students will also collect hygiene items, baby products and school supplies. The bus is named "The Justice Express" because it has the potential to help in many ways.
"This opened their eyes to other issues that are going on in the community and they've already are starting to want to work on the next issue," Motley said.
When the bus hits the road, one freshman wanted to make sure all people could access it. Jaswanes Dorairaj developed an app so those unable to climb the stairs can place an order ahead of time based on what is in stock.
"Using this app people can select how much quantity they needed and order the food as per the app,"Â Dorairaj said.Â
The last step is a custom mural that will be hand-painted by some of the students.
The renovations inside the bus are expected to be completed during the summer. Once students return to school, the bus will get some fresh paint and head out to the community.
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