A Teacher Packed a Grocery Haul, But It’s Not For Her: ‘My Mission is, Full Bellies, Full Hearts’

Grocery hauls on social media often feature influencers at Walmart, adding the best food items to their carts, followed by a fridge restock video. Meagan (@squirrelaroundtheworld) on TikTok is known for packing groceries in her garage, but not for her.

“I’m a teacher, and I run a food pantry out of my garage for students who do not have enough food to eat at home.” In this TikTok clip, she said she received a call from another teacher about a low-income family in need of food. The family was living in a hotel and only had a microwave for cooking and a small refrigerator for storage.

Meagan further said that the family’s three-year-old son recently passed from his battle with leukemia. The father, on the other hand, had lost both of his legs. At the moment, the mother is the sole breadwinner, and they have a twelve-year-old daughter about to enter middle school. To help the family, Meagan got a large box and filled it with food.

A grocery box for a family’s survival

“Before I show you what I’m putting in the box, I want to start off by saying that this box is for survival,” she said. Essentially, these were mostly non-perishable items that last for long stretches. They may have more sugar and salt content, but they can keep the family fed.

“Every time I make one of these videos, I do see some comments that say, ‘You need to have healthier options,’ ‘You need to have less sugary,'” Meagan alleged. She clarified that while she has many healthy items in her pantry, her focus is on the family’s survival.

“These foods are going to families in most need. A lot of our families are homeless, a lot of our families are living in hotels. I am not just helping my school, but 67 schools and organizations keep their food pantries full”. These are not meant to be luxury grocery hauls and may feel like a “simulation” for an influencer who has a strange aversion to shopping at low-cost groceries.

A hearty and relatively healthy box

Meagan chooses food items that are easy to consume and require little preparation. She added packs of tuna, spread crackers, and Goldfish crackers, as well as other snack and breakfast items like cereal, granola bars, Pop-Tarts, Rice Krispies Treats, Skippy peanut butter, and Wheat Thins.

She also focused on protein sources, like a pouch of ready-made chicken, Jack Link’s jerky, and turkey sticks. For carbs, she added a pack of mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, rice, and Minute Pasta. The teacher also threw condiments in the box, like Alfredo sauce and spaghetti meatballs for the pasta and some applesauce as a breakfast topping.

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Also in the haul were several Hormel meals: microwavable chicken alfredo, chicken breast and mashed potatoes, turkey and dressing, and roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy. But just when it seemed like the box was already full, Meagan also added a pack of Campbell’s chicken noodle soup, two ramen meals, and one box filled with packs of cup fruit.

But Meagan’s charity did not stop at food, and she also included hygiene items like detergent, shampoo, conditioner, and a pack of soap. To top it all off, she also gave the family a Domino’s gift card so they can have a “pizza night.”

“I always feel like it’s never enough,” Meagan said by the end of her packing video. She says she wishes she could send a cartful instead but hopes that the box she packed can get the family through the next time they can shop for their own groceries.

The teacher has put up an Amazon wishlist for those interested in buying items to help replenish her food pantry, and her bio reads, “My mission is, full bellies, full hearts.” There are many people in need, and for some, checking out with a cartful of groceries is their biggest aspiration in life.

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