Simsbury Schools Raise over $6,000 to Help End Food Insecurity

The Take Action Clubs from Simsbury's Tootin’ Hills, Latimer Lane and Squadron Line Elementary Schools focused their social justice efforts this spring on learning about the causes of and solutions to food insecurity around the world. To this end, they collaborated with Rise Against Hunger, an international hunger relief organization that distributes food and life-changing aid to the world’s most vulnerable, mobilizing the necessary resources to end hunger by 2030. The organization offers groups the opportunity to assemble meals directly, but it requires a minimum donation of $3,500 to come to the school for the production.

The three Take Action Clubs decided to work together to raise the $3,500, although they would only have a few weeks to do it. Students did neighborhood bake sales and lemonade stands, returned recyclable bottles, conducted benefit concerts, did extra chores and babysitting and asked friends and family for donations. Together they exceeded the $3,500 goal and raised $6,055.97.

Squadron Line Take Action Club hosted this year’s WE Day celebration, an event designed to honor the hard work the clubs have done throughout the year. The event was held on Friday, March 29 and began with student presentations about what the clubs have done so far this year. Michaela Henley, the groups’ representative from WE Charity, made a moving presentation about the cumulative global impact the three schools have made since the clubs began in 2013. She presented the TAC members with a symbolic check for $32,000, representing the total contributions the clubs have made to WE Charity. That check will be in each of the three elementary schools and then will be at the Board of Education offices at 933 Hopmeadow Street. The TAC members taught the audience about the causes and effects of hunger and food insecurity around the world and then they got to work assembling the meals.

Rise Against Hunger set up an assembly line for the TAC members and their families. All 60 volunteers donned red hair nets and gloves and found a place on the assembly line. In 90 minutes, with energizing music pumping, the volunteers assembled 17,928 meals consisting of dried vegetables, dried soy, nutritional supplement packets and dried rice. Meal pouches were sealed, packed, and stacked in large boxes. Every time the group reached 1,000 meals, a TAC member got to strike the celebratory gong. The energy and enthusiasm was high the whole time as kids sang to the music, danced, and got to marinate in their pride of their impact.

About TAC

The Take Action Club is in partnership with WE Charity, an international organization dedicated to empowering children to help others. The Simsbury clubs are among 18,000 such clubs around North America and the UK. Started in 2013 at Tootin’ Hills, the Take Action Clubs strive to build awareness of social issues locally and globally, help students see that they can create campaigns for social change and achieve goals that make a real difference in the issues of their choosing, and help build a school environment of compassion, idealism, dedication, and optimism. The clubs each have between 20-40 4th, 5th and 6th grade members each year who meet biweekly before school. Since the clubs began, they have contributed over $45,000 of goods and donations to local organizations and over $38,000 to global organizations.