SANGER, Texas (CNN) — Linda Tutt High School in Sanger opened up a grocery store inside the school.
It’s meant to help put extra food on the table for students and their families.
But the store doesn’t accept money, just good deeds.
“How often can a school say they have a grocery store inside their walls?” said principal Anthony Love.
With the help of local partners like Texas Health, Albertsons and First Refuge Ministries, the school was able to complete the grocery store in an extra room.
Students can shop using a point system.
“A lot of our students, they come from low socioeconomic families.” Love said. “It’s a way for students to earn the ability to shop for their families. Through hard work you can earn points for positive office referrals. You can earn points for doing chores around the building or helping to clean.”
Paul Juarez, the Executive Director of First Refuge Ministries said he hopes the idea is implemented in other rural areas.
“These points were actually given by the students, so we walked through here and decided that a can of green beans was one point,” said Juarez. “It gives us a picture of what can be. So if we can do this inside other schools it will do a whole lot to help other small towns.”
Students will learn about having sales when they have too much product, and of course, what to expect in their own first jobs.
“We all had our first jobs and it taught us how to work, and what you got for your work,” said Thomas Muir, Sanger’s City Mayor.
The store will also hold food drives weekly for the community and act as a supplement to other food insecurity programs in the area.
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