Our Bowls of Hope Food Drive set an exciting new school record this year, collecting a whopping 4,655 pounds of food for the Community FoodBank of NJ, Southern Branch. Middle school and high school students on the Student Council, who helped organize the school-wide event, helped pack up and load the over two tons of donations onto wooden pallets for pickup by a FoodBank truck on Thursday, March 4. Congratulations to Mrs. Capito’s 1st grade class for winning first place among all PreK-12th grade classes for collecting the most non-perishable food by weight — 442.4 pounds.
The food drive was held during the month of February, concluding on March 1. In early February, hundreds of paper grocery bags donated by the English Creek Shoprite in Egg Harbor Township were sent home with students for families to fill with their food donations.
“Thank you to all our school families and friends who brought in food to make this an overwhelming success,” said faculty member Dave Genter, who oversaw the drive as the Student Council advisor. “You were Jesus’ hands and your donations are helping out many families in our community.” Genter said that ACS collected over four times more donations this year than last year, when ACS had collected 1,021 pounds of non-perishable food.
Kathy Steinman, transportation supervisor at the FoodBank, thanked and congratulated ACS for its efforts. “Wow, you guys and gals did an amazing job,” Steinman said. “Thank you all for everything you did to help so many in need.”
Mrs. Capito’s 1st grade class will be enjoying a pizza party next week for collecting the most donations by weight. Two other classes were also recognized for their efforts — in second place, Mrs. Lewis’ PreK2A class, which collected 419.8 pounds of food, and in 3rd place, Mrs. Brossman’s 1st grade class, which collected 385 pounds of food.
The Student Council is leading a school-wide Food Drive in February in conjunction with the Bowls of Hope Soup Fundraiser. Â Brown paper grocery bags donated by the English Creek ShopRite will be sent home with students the week of February 1 to fill with non-perishable food items that will be donated to the Community FoodBank of NJ, Southern Branch.
The Student Council “Let’s Can Hunger” Food Drive has been extended to Tuesday, February 19. ACS students and families are encouraged to drop off non-perishable canned food items in the marked bins in the school foyer and outside the upstairs school office. All items donated will be given to the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, Southern Branch to help families in need throughout southern New Jersey. Help us reach our goal of 100 more pounds of blessings!