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Class of 2018 stocks food closet for fellow students

5 mins read
Left to right is
Left to right is Class of 2018 Vice President Ben Andrews, teacher Jody Harmon, teacher Bonita Lehigh, Secretary Gracie Foss, student Grace McIntosh and Treasurer Andrea Jones.

FARMINGTON – The Mt. Blue Campus’ class of 2018 has undertaken a community project to help some important members of the school: their fellow students.

After discussing the concept of a food drive with one of her teachers, student Grace McIntosh decided to raise awareness about the needs of some of her fellow classmates: students that cannot get proper nutrition, toiletries or other supplies at home. McIntosh approached the class officers and advisors about the possibility of collecting easy-to-prepare food items and some other non-perishable goods for the school’s food closet.

“I thought it would be really important to raise awareness,” McIntosh said. She referred to students who might be unaware that they could come to the school for assistance as well as teachers and other staff. A food closet that was accessible to the staff meant that a student could approach any trusted teacher for help.

The class officers, President Griffin Mayhew, Vice President Ben Andrews, Treasurer Andrea Jones and Secretary Gracie Foss, along with class advisors Bonita Lehigh and Jody Harmon, decided to launch a competition to see which homeroom could donate the most food and other supplies to the closet. Fifty-eight homerooms participated, stocking the second-floor book storage closet with 1,300 items.

The contest ran from the end of January to the beginning of February. Jake Bogar’s class took home the top honors with 192 donated items; they won a plate of cookies as well as credit with the Mt. Blue store, courtesy of the Class of 2018.

Donated food items were generally things that could be prepared simply, McIntosh noted that many students unable to get proper nutrition at home also lacked the means with which to prepare a complex meal. The closet is stocked with soups and crackers, cereal bars and oatmeal. (“A lot of mac and cheese,” Jones said) There are also toothbrushes and soap and other basic hygiene items.

Volunteers associated with the stocking drive helped introduce the idea to their homerooms, while others counted incoming supplies and organized the closet. Space was cleared in the book storage area, providing several shelves to hold the supplies.

Hannaford donated 25 of the green, reusable shopping bags, so teachers can provide students without a backpack the means to transport their supplies home. According to the teachers, weekends and holidays are the closet’s busiest times; during the school week students can count of getting at least one nutritious meal a day.

“We wanted the system to be as discrete as possible,” McIntosh said. According to the teachers, the school nurse often acts as an initial point of contact for students that need assistance, but the intent is to have every staff member cognizant of the food closet as a resource.

The effort is likely to continue in the coming months, as the student council has already been discussing holding a similar stocking event this spring. Those that wish to assist the effort can stop in at the Mt. Blue Campus’ main office or at the Psycology Department at the University of Maine at Farmington, which has been maintaining a collections box for the food closet.

There are also the local food pantries, Andrews pointed out, which provide assistance to the families of students as well.

“It’s been a positive experience for everyone,” Harmon said.

The class officers agreed. Jones said that it was nice to take a break from fundraising for the class trip, one of the primary responsibilities of the class officers.

“They deserve a lot of credit for being so considerate to their fellow students,” Lehigh said.

Grace McIntosh and Treasurer Andrea Jones.
Grace McIntosh and Treasurer Andrea Jones.
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8 Comments

  1. This is a perfect story for kindness week, way to go Mt. Blue Community, congrats!

  2. We are very fortunate to have such caring student body in Mt. Blue Regional School District. Your generosity and kindness does not go unappreciated by this school board member. Thank you to all involved!

  3. this is awesome students helping students and a congrats to the parents of these students its fantastic to see kids who really care about others

  4. What a great thing the students are doing for their fellow students, all of us should be proud of this group and some of us might learn that it’s not very hard to do a act of kindness to anyone. I am so proud to be a grandfather of one of this students.. I will be in to donate also. Thank you class 2018 you guys rock.

  5. The class of 2018 is full of engaged, smart and caring students. This is a wonderful example of community and the positive things going on at MBC and RSU 9. Well done.

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