RATHDRUM — The smile on T’Kyah Knutson’s face says it all.

The Mountain View Alternative High School junior was thrilled to fill Principal Paul Uzzi’s trunk with bags of food to send home with her comrades in need.

As a “Moose Connections” project, Knutson came up with the idea to offer support to her classmates. With school not in session Thanksgiving week, Knutson said many of the students will struggle to have enough food to eat when they’re at home.

“I came up with the idea because I’ve been through that situation,” Knutson said. “I know there’s a bunch of people here who need help.”

Although the idea came to her at the last minute just before the Thanksgiving holiday, Knutson asked three friends to help with the effort. Molly Willard, Ronji Olivieri and Kylie Kindy stepped up to help Knutson by approaching local community organizations to help the students put together packages of food.

Sharon Dillon, one of 10 volunteers at the Rathdrum Food Bank on Main Street, encouraged Knutson’s team to take as much as they needed.

“The food's not mine. It's donated to us, to the Rathdrum community,” Dillon said. “And I have to tell you, kids, the Rathdrum community has been wonderful. You don’t ever see me saying we need food or donations, and there’s a reason. It literally just comes in. We’re really blessed.”

Dillon hand-packed the 17 bags that went to help eight Mountain View students and their families.

“We had the plan to focus mainly on the child who goes (to Mountain View) and wanted to include some snacks for any siblings and a full dinner for the family,” Knutson said.

Knutson and her team hope to help students over upcoming school breaks.

To understand students' needs, the young philanthropists visited each classroom. They asked each student to privately write their name and needs on a slip of paper, so that nobody felt embarrassed, Willard said. Knutson and the rest of the project team don’t believe that anyone should feel ashamed to ask for help.

The project stemmed from another idea that Knutson is working on: a food pantry on her school campus. The pride these students get from helping other students seems infectious at Mountain View.

“I’m just really glad we can help,” said Olivieri.