Elliott turns tears of hunger pain into weekend food for needy children

Shaun Elliott was at a peer observation session at Green Sea Floyds Elementary when he saw a boy, no older than 11, with tears in his eyes.

“I watched a little kid cry in school one day because he was hungry,” Elliott said. “The little kid, you could tell he was sad and was crying, and I asked the teacher, ‘What’s wrong with the little guy there?’ She said, ‘He’s hungry.’”

It’s the moment Elliott realized he had to do something. He began organizing food drives to collect canned goods, and in 2013, he helped start the BackPack Buddies program at Green Sea Floyds Elementary.

This past spring and fall, he coordinated and helped fund more than 2,000 backpacks for three different local schools, which helped provide weekend meals for needy children.

“Here’s a child who did not choose his situation and did not choose his parents,” Elliott said of the young boy. “He can’t fend for himself. People say there are government agencies who take care of them, but you still have to have a parent who is responsible enough and competent enough to use those resources properly.”

Elliott also has, for the last three years, coordinated and helped fund Thanksgiving meals through his church, Spring Branch Baptist. Every November he and Matt Vigari, the owner of Captain George’s Seafood in Myrtle Beach, provide the food for them and the church to serve and deliver hundreds of Thanksgiving meals to the needy and elderly in the surrounding communities, said Todd Blevins, a friend of Elliott’s.

“Being in the food service industry and a devoted Christian, he has a heart for feeding the less fortunate in and around his church and community,” Blevins said.

Elliott said projects like providing Thanksgiving meals aren’t possible without a supporting church family at Spring Branch Baptist.

“The whole church, really and truly, comes together and helps,” Elliott said.

His knack for helping others didn’t simply come because of the teardrops of one young boy or through his membership at a church. Elliott said he was raised by his mother and father, Pat Parker and Evander Elliott, respectively, who have always been giving people.

“I was probably one of the most fortunate kids out there,” Elliott said. “My mother always made sure nobody ever did without as long as she knew they were in need.”

Now it’s time for Elliott to spread the word about need in the community, even if it means donning a tutu at the Color Run in Myrtle Beach in March to raise more than $2,100 to address hunger.

“You’d be surprised what people would pay to see a fat boy run around Broadway at the Beach in a tutu,” Elliott said. “That was the easiest money I ever raised.”

He said changing people’s mind-set is a struggle.

“You need to remind people, you know that McDonald’s drive thru where you just spent $10 a head, with a family of four, that’s $40,” Elliott said. “You can feed a lot of kids with that.”

He said not everyone is struck with reality the way he was watching the young boy having hunger pains. Elliott admits he thinks of the boy often.

“All the time,” Elliott said. “I’m a big boy. I’m not a skinny fella. I think about that kid, and I’ve raised my girls to let them know they’re fortunate. I tell them they need to look around and take notice to your friends and classmates who may not have the simple luxuries of a hot meal at night.”

This story was originally published December 18, 2015 at 8:42 PM with the headline "Elliott turns tears of hunger pain into weekend food for needy children."