Newton 4th Graders Collect More Than 100 Food Bags For Pantry: Report

NEWTON, MA — Underwood Elementary School students collected more than 100 bags of food for the Newton Food Pantry as part of a fourth-grade community service project, according to a report from The Newton Beacon.

The project was the culmination of an end-of-year language arts unit in which students studied social change movements before choosing to address local food insecurity. The class originally set a goal of collecting 50 "Kids' Bags" containing child-friendly food items, but the Underwood community ultimately donated more than twice that amount. Students also decorated each bag with colorful drawings and encouraging messages before they were donated.

As part of the project, students volunteered with Concord-based nonprofit Gaining Ground, where they learned about growing food for people experiencing food insecurity. Students also split into teams focused on operations, logistics, advertising and community engagement, creating posters, writing emails, tracking donations and collecting food throughout the drive. The Newton Food Pantry distributes roughly 650 Kids' Bags to Newton families each month, making the donations especially valuable during the summer when many children no longer receive meals at school.

The community engagement project was the first of its kind incorporated into Underwood's fourth-grade language arts curriculum.

Read more at The Newton Beacon.

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