Community Service Club members who volunteered at a Clarke Central High School Mobile Food Market stand in the CCHS Crawford Gym on Feb 4. The market was organized by CCHS Athletic Director Dr. Jon Ward, with CCHS students volunteering to hand out food and assist shoppers with their bags. “The Clarke Central community involves our students, faculty, staff, parents and the community (around) where our school’s set. (Food markets are a) unique opportunity for all those entities to come together and to serve and to help one another out,” Ward said. Photo courtesy of Farrell Hyde
Starting at 4:30 p.m., Clarke County School District families can collect free groceries at CCHS’s third Mobile Food Market, which will take place in the CCHS Crawford Gym on April 1.
Clarke Central High School will host the Mobile Food Market, at which CCSD families can pick up food free of charge, in the Crawford Gym beginning at 4:30 p.m. on April 1, with a variety of CCHS clubs assisting in running the event.
The event is organized by CCHS Athletic Director Dr. Jon Ward in collaboration with the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia, which supplies the food for the market. The two previous Mobile Food Markets, which took place on Dec. 10, 2025, and Feb. 4, have offered several different types of food, ranging from baked goods to produce to canned items.
“(CCHS works) closely with (the FBNGA) through the Athletic Department, providing food for our athletes,” Ward said. “When I became aware that this food market concept was something they were doing in (other parts of the Clarke County (School District), I went and observed one at (Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle School), and said, ‘We can certainly do that at Clarke Central.’”
“There’s no reason for people to be hungry in our society. None of us can solve it, but we can do something to work towards solving it.”
— Dr. Jon Ward,
CCHS Athletic Director
At the market, representatives from CCHS clubs and athletic teams volunteer to pass out food or help shoppers with their bags. CCHS senior Clarice Buril volunteered with the Community Service Club at the Feb. 4 market and believes that CCHS volunteers allow shoppers to feel more comfortable participating.
An Instagram post covers the ODYSSEY Media Group’s participation in Clarke Central High School’s second Mobile Food Market, which took place in the CCHS Crawford Gym on Feb. 4. CCHS Mobile Food Markets have been organized by CCHS Athletic Director Dr. Jon Ward, who believes that location of the markets add a sense of connection to the event. “We wanted the (event to be) on school campuses (because) there’s a familiarity. People (are) familiar with the campus. (The location) makes it more about just all being part of the same community,” Ward said. Post by the ODYSSEY Media Group
“(Club volunteers are) important because (they establish) familiarity. There’s some people who might not know (the CCHS campus), but when you bring people like ODYSSEY (Media Group) and (CSC), there might be more familiar faces,” Buril said, “It is a community thing (with) everybody just joining together to help people.”
While Ward acknowledges the extent of food insecurity already present within Athens, he hopes the food markets will help reduce the burden of the issue.
“There’s no reason for people to be hungry in our society. None of us can solve it, but we can do something to work towards solving it,” Ward said. “The people that are shopping and getting food, they’re eating. Whether you’re a teacher, construction worker or lawyer, we all should be about helping one another out.”
