NORWICH – Cans of chicken noodle and vegetable beef soup and boxes of baking mixes aren’t what you might expect to find stacked in a first grade classroom. In Gail Holowacz’s class at Stanford Gibson Elementary School in Norwich, however, you’ll find boxes and bags filled with these and other non-perishable food items.
“We’re having a food drive,” explained Tyler, one of Mrs. Holowacz’s students. He and other members of his class are proud, and more than a little bit excited, about the drive, which is their first community service project of the year.
“We have been learning about community,” Holowacz explained. One of the lessons the students are learning is that being part of a community means helping one another. And one of the ways in which first graders can help, is by having a food drive, she said.
Between now and Oct. 23, Holowacz’s class will be collecting non-perishable food items for the food pantry at the Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Norwich. Some of the specific items they are looking for include boxes of Jell-O, instant pudding mix and soups with meat, such as vegetable beef or chicken noodle. They are also seeking toilet paper, facial tissues, napkins and paper towels.
“They told us that’s what they really, really need,” the elementary school teacher said.
As this is the first food drive Holowacz has done with a class, they have not set a specific goal for themselves.
“We didn’t know what to expect,” the educator explained. Whatever expectations she did have, have already been exceeded.
To help spread the word and engage the rest of the school in the project, the class made and distributed posters throughout the building. The response was immediate. Just three days into the effort, the class has already filled several large boxes with donations.
The students will have the honor of presenting the food pantry with the items they have collected after the conclusion of the food drive, Holowacz said, explaining that they plan to walk the items down to the church themselves.
The food drive is the first of monthly community service projects Holowacz has planned for her class this year. The first grade teacher has already planned a trip to a local nursing home in November, during which students will make turkey windsocks with residents. Christmas cards for U.S. service people overseas will be the project for December, she said, and January they will be collecting newspapers for the Chenango County SPCA. In February, the class will collect 100 random acts of kindness.
Those wishing to donate non-perishable food items for the first graders’ food drive can do so by bringing donations to the Gibson main office. From there, they will be brought to the Mrs. Holowacz’s classroom.
For more information, contact Stanford Gibson Elementary School at 334-1600, ext. 4251.