Massapequa Students Make Sure No One Goes Hungry

After filling an entire pickup truck with food, a group of 18 students from Berner Middle School in the Massapequa School District learned how their generosity benefits other people.

The student council held its annual Thanksgiving food drive from Nov. 12-20, collecting nonperishable items for the St. Rose of Lima Church food pantry. The student leaders spread the word and picked up items each day during homeroom.

On Nov. 21, they loaded up the truck and then took the journey to St. Rose to sort the food, which included vegetables, gravy, macaroni and cheese, pasta and sauce, stuffing, yams and more.

The students who visited the food pantry heard from Danielle LaRose, director of outreach, about the different services offered for people in need and ways to help through donations and volunteer work. She explained to the youngsters that the good choices they make, like giving to a food drive, make a difference.

“They’re learning that their actions are positively impacting lives directly here in this community,” she said.

Student council co-adviser Kristen Meoli said that while the officers were collecting items every day during the food drive, they didn’t get a sense of how much the Berner students and staff donated until it was all loaded onto the truck. That, coupled with their trip to the food pantry to learn about how the food gets distributed, gave them a true lesson in charity.

“We did really good this year,” said eighth-grader Kristen Bilich. “It was really generous of everyone in our school to give like this.”

Kristen noted that it meant a lot to know that the donations would be helping families in Massapequa. Seventh-grader Jack Holden added that he is glad to know there is a place people in the community can turn to for help, and he was happy to contribute to a meaningful effort.

Photo courtesy Massapequa School District