Budget Day Food Drive a Success
With the ranks of those in the community needing assistance growing, Huntington School District teachers collected hundreds of pounds of food and related items during a multi-hour drive last week on the sidewalk outside Huntington High School.
The initiative was designed to coincide with the district’s annual school budget vote and trustee election. In the week leading up to it, teachers collected food in their own buildings before taking donations of goods from community members.
“The food drive was big success,” said Georganne White, a district librarian and a vice-president of the Associated Teachers of Huntington, the professional organization representing district teachers. “The comments from the public were just so positive. Many teachers from other districts, our residents, stopped by and commented on what a great idea this was.”
Jack Abrams Intermediate School teacher Ron Wilson drove over from his building with a truckload of food. Boxes and bags also arrived from the district’s other seven buildings. Even current students donated canned goods. All of the items were quickly sorted and organized.
Huntington School Board members stopped by the area to encourage the volunteers staffing the drive. Many teacher-retirees also came by to chat and make either a food or monetary donation. Teacher-volunteers ranged from newly tenured to those with 30 years of experience.
As the drive neared its conclusion around 6 p.m., food piled up high on the adjoining tables could be seen from a distance. When the Helping Hand Mission arrived on the scene to accept the goods and start the process of getting items into the hands of hungry families, the tired volunteers started loading the vehicle.
“It was clear we were all exhausted, and many boxes needed to be loaded into the truck,” Ms. White said. “So, we asked a group of high school students to help us and they very willingly came over to our table. They grabbed the boxes with gusto and the job was finished in a few short minutes!”
Folks donating items were automatically entered into a raffle for a “family fun” basket, which was won by Rebecca Sanin, Jack Abrams School PTA president.
“The Helping Hand Mission was just amazed by the amount of food collected,” Ms. White said.
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