Students Decorate Gingerbread Houses To Benefit Somerset County Food Bank

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Bridgewater-Raritan High School are decorating gingerbread houses in an effort to help provide donations to the Somerset County Food Bank.

Students in the Home and Interior Design class will be creating 3D gingerbread houses out of a two-dimensional drawing which will be put on display in the lobby of the Bridgewater Township Municipal Building the week leading up to Christmas.

Visitors to the municipal building can vote on their favorite house and have the opportunity to donate to the Somerset County Food Bank.

The project is coordinated by the students’ teacher, Lorie Santos, who is the Family and Consumer Sciences Teacher at the high school.

Last year's project included 12 student submissions in the school lunch area with funds going to help a family in the district who tragically lost a child, according to Santos.

Due to the installation of the new Unit Lunch Period at the high school, Santos reached out to the Office of the Mayor in an effort to show off the 2022 gingerbread houses in the municipal building.

"They agreed to give us the lobby to display the houses," said Santos.

Students will be divided into 12 groups of six students who will construct the houses from recycled cardboard and covered with graham crackers.

"They will create from the scaled floor plan to start," she said. "Their house will be based on the
housing style that they had picked. The drawings must all match."

The schedule for the house to be transferred and put on holiday display is no later than Monday, Dec. 19.

Local businesses can donate gift cards and a QR Code that sends donors directly to the donation webpage of Somerset County Food Bank has been created.

"This effort promotes senior leadership and it is something that they must all work together," Santos said. "This brings all of the students together."

— Submitted by BRRSD