Olivia Gillespie stacks the last of the 11,000 items she collected for her project ‘Insecure No More.’
Michael B. Hardison | Sampson Independent
Olivia’s sister Evan Gillespie helps carry in some of the items at Sunset Avenue.
Michael B. Hardison | Sampson Independent
A small view of just some of the food delivered to Sunset Avenue.
Michael B. Hardison | Sampson Independent
One of the on-call custodians, Sabrina Thomas, lends a hand to bring in the food.
Michael B. Hardison | Sampson Independent
Olivia’s grandmother Gloria and her dad Peter Gillespie stack up more donated food for ‘Insecure No More.’
Michael B. Hardison | Sampson Independent
With an 18th birthday here, recent Clinton High graduate Olivia Gillespie continued her yearly tradition of fighting back against hunger around the community.
Once a student of Clinton City Schools, Gillespie started a project to help feed her fellow peers she calls “Insecure No More.” With continued support from her family and the community, she collects food and delivers it to Sunset Avenue, making her last delivery of 2021 this past Wednesday. The donated food goes toward Backpack Buddies, a program dedicated to providing lower-income families food bags for their weekends when students are away from school.
It is a project Gillespie has been spearheading for each of her birthdays since she was 10 years old.
“This is my ninth year doing it so I sort of know the routine,” Gillespie said. “When I started the project, we used to put the food on a dining room table. The project has grown so much that it doesn’t fit there anymore and now we have to do multiple deliveries to Sunset.”
“With that said, we deliver at least five times a summer so this is probably my fifth trip since we started collecting in June,” she added.
Since the beginning of “Insecure No More,” Gillespie has collected, in total, 48,302 items for the project. Her 2021 haul was the largest yet with a total of 11,000 items.
“Giving back to my peers and my brother and sister’s peers just feels really nice,” Gillespie said. “It feels really good to have done the project for so long and it just feels good to give back to my school system that raised me, especially since I graduated this year.”
Now a Dark Horse alum, Gillespie will be attending the University of South Carolina, where she’ll pursue a degree in political science. This doesn’t mean the end of “Insecure No More” as she hopes to pass it on to her younger brother, Tripp.
“I leave for the University of South Carolina on Aug. 16, but I plan to do the project one more year,” Gillespie replied. “My brother turns 10 next year so that’s when I started the project, so we’re thinking of giving it to him.”
“So after my 10th year next year, we’ll give it over to him and he’ll take it on and do whatever he wants to with it,” she continued, “because the Backpack Buddies program really needs this so they can start the year off strong with a bunch of donations.”
As for what originally stirred the inspiration for starting the project, Gillespie shared some insight.
“When I was in fourth grade, I started to notice the kids in my classes bringing home those bags every Friday and I was curious about it,” Gillespie stated. “So I asked my parents about it and they told me about the Backpack Buddies program.”
“So I said I was just going to start collecting for my birthday; instead of asking for gifts, I’d ask for donations for the Backpack Buddies program,” she added, “It just grew from there.”
One of the custodians who was working that day, Sabrina Thomas, helped bring in the mountain of donated food. She expressed her gratitude for the project and everything Gillespie has done.
“It’s truly a blessing what you guys are doing here with bringing in this food,” Thomas said. “We’ve got so many kids around here that really need this help for the weekend. You guys have done so much for these kids over the years, and it’s just really a blessing. They really enjoy this and, because of it, they get to eat and eat, so thank you.”
Gillespie expressed her thanks for all of those who have helped her over the years.
“I would like to thank my mom and dad, Anna and Perry Gillespie,” she said. “I’d like to thank my grandmother, Gloria Gillespie, my siblings Tripp and Evan, my church family at Grove Park and my aunt Stacie Gillespie over at Clinton Medical Clinic — really just the whole community and everyone that helped support the project over the years and gave donations, especially this year.”
Reach Michael B. Hardison at 910-592-8137, ext. 2588. Follow us on Twitter @SampsonInd and like us on Facebook.
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Nine years in, ‘Insecure No More’ food drive hits peak - Sampson Independent
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