Food drive imparts important lessons
Students visit food pantry and learn how agency helps families in need
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer
Student council members at the Freehold Learning Center elementary school recently participated in a project that allowed them to help feed residents who need some assistance.

JEFF GRANIT staff Student council members from the Freehold Learning Center elementary school, Freehold Borough, unpack food that was collected for the Freehold Area Open Door food pantry. Matthew Hardy, 10, (l) and Zackary Larsen, 10, were among the youngsters who helped to stock the pantry's shelves.

On Feb. 4, 17 student council members and their teacher advisers arrived at the Freehold Area Open Door food pantry on Throckmorton Street, toting large cardboard boxes. The boxes were full of food staples, and all of that food helped to replenish the pantry's shelves.

Fourth-grade teachers Sunday D'Arcangelo and Dawn Fetterly accompanied the children to the pantry as the youngsters helped to make a difference in the lives of area families in need.

Fetterly said that in January each Student council member placed a box in his or her grade so that students could bring in food donations. The food drive ran from Jan. 6-28.

During the students' visit to the food pantry, Jeanne Yaecker, who directs the operation, told the students about the services the pantry provides.

Yaecker explained that the pantry provides families in Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Manalapan, Marlboro and Colts Neck with three to five days of food per month. Most of the people being helped are residents of Freehold Borough and Freehold Township.

"We serve between 400 to 480 households per month," Yaecker said, which equates to between 1,000 and 1,300 people. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and toiletries are provided.

This year's figure includes a 30 percent increase in the number of meals being served, according to Yaecker.

"The need has increased and the donations have decreased," she told the children.

In addition to supplying families with basic foods throughout the year, the food pantry provides baskets of food for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

Yaecker told the students that during the holiday season the shelves of the food pantry are pretty well stocked. The toughest time for the pantry to keep its shelves full is during the summer.

"People forget that when it's hot, people still get hungry," she said, reminding the pupils that donations are always needed. "We try to make sure we serve well-balanced, healthy, nutritious foods, balancing out proteins, carbohydrates and vitamins. We work off the food pyramid."

Yaecker said assistance is needed during the summer because students who might receive a free meal in school do not have that same opportunity when school is not in session.

She said local merchants provide fresh produce and added that some individuals offer produce to the food pantry from their gardens. The plant-a-row program encourages people to set aside room in their garden for food that can be donated to the pantry.

Yaecker told the students the pantry relies on the food drives that are run by schools, scouts and other local organizations.

She showed the pupils how the food is stored and when she gave the signal the fun began as the children checked each item in their boxes and placed it in its proper spot on the shelves. Among the lessons learned by the youngsters was which food group a certain item belonged to.

Yaecker explained that the food pantry is a nonprofit organization that is supported by houses of worship, area businesses and private donations. The pantry receives an allotment of food monthly from the government.

Asked his opinion of the effort, fifthgrader Jithin Sunny, 10, said it is good to help people. He said students at the Freehold Learning Center did a great job of contributing food to the food drive.

Fourth-grader Jason Mendoza, 9, said he had fun working on this project.

"We are helping people who really need it in times like this," he said. "Some people are really poor. We did really good."

Third-grader Jayne Schiff, 8, said her friends brought in a lot of soup and chick peas for the food drive, which she was glad to be bringing to the pantry.

"We had a good time," she said.

When it came time for the children to head back to school, Yaecker asked them to take a look at the pantry shelves.

"Well, what do you think? See any difference?" she asked them.

They did — the shelves were full and more pleasing to look at with the addition of all the food the students had provided.

"Look around," she said. "You really did make a big difference."

Contact Clare Marie Celano

at ccelano@gmnews.com