Students help feed hungry

By MAUREEN MCGUINNESS- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

Children from St. Helen's School in Niskayuna recently learned that one is never too young to volunteer.

From the pre-kindergarten class to the fifth grade, students recently collected food for Concerned for the Hungry, Inc. Last week, at the IUE Hall in Schenectady, the fifth graders, under the direction of teacher Alan Schick, helped to distribute the food to those in need.

More than 10,000 people received food, Mr. Schick said, and 44 percent of them were children. That percentage surprised the students. "I thought it was going to be really old people," said Annemarie Schwendler. "There were families with little babies in them."

Practicing faith

Distributing the food to those in need reinforces lessons learned in religion class, Mr. Schick said.

"It's important for students to get involved with the less fortunate," he noted. "It allows them to help in a concrete way. They get to see that those in need look just like them."

The students worked quickly, gathering boxes of canned goods with the appropriate amount of food for each family, adding perishable and baby items, if needed. The students would then find the family in the crowd and give them their food.

Back again

Despite being tired and sore from their day of volunteering, each student said they'd do it again. Mr. Schick said it is common for former students to continue to volunteer each year.

For example, Jessica Greth, now a seventh-grader at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School, returned this year. "A lot of difference is made because of what kids do," she said. "A lot of the work is being done by kids."

She said the project helped her learn about poverty. "I was surprised," she said. "Most of the people didn't seem how I would think they would be."

Impressions

Students were impressed by different aspects of their volunteering experience:

* Fifth-grader Sean Baldwin said, "There was one older lady who was really determined. She wanted to put her food in bags and was going to leave what couldn't fit. She couldn't carry all of the food home. My father offered to call a cab for her, but she said she couldn't afford a cab; and even if she could, she still wouldn't be able to get the food up to her apartment. Another guy had a really big family he was getting food for. I felt bad because he couldn't write his name to sign for the food."

* Monika Drzymalski shared this story: "The ladies volunteering at the check-in table had a cup on the table where they were putting their garbage, like candy wrappers. There was a boy my age waiting at the table. I saw him looking through that garbage for some candy. I felt really bad."

* Tiffany Nicolella said, "I fell happy and sad. I feel happy that I helped other people but sad because other people don't have food."

* Monet Thompson appreciates what she has after participating in this experience. "There are a lot of hungry people," she said. "They are not as lucky as me to have parents with jobs."

* Jessica Jachimecki said, "We did make a difference. I feel better about myself. It shows that kids can do more than adults think."

(12-05-02) [[In-content Ad]]