WESTFIELD – The Westfield Public Schools will hold their first Food Drive on Monday in conjunction with WSKI 89.5 FM, Westfield State’s community radio, and facilitated by the Westfield Technical Academy.
Donations may be dropped off from 6 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the Technical Academy’s Tiger’s Pride restaurant/Gymnasium Entrance, where students will be on hand to assist. WSKB will be broadcasting live throughout the drive at Tiger’s Pride, with several guest hosts, including Bob Plasse, Bo Sullivan, and The Westfield News’ Patrick Berry at noon.
“We thought this would be a great way to rally the community as a whole, which Westfield does very well, and to fill an urgent need,” said Brent Bean, director of Advancement and University Relations at Westfield State, which is supporting the effort.
According to Stefan Czaporowski, principal of Westfield Technical Academy, the Thanksgiving food items that are being requested will be boxed and delivered Monday evening and Tuesday to area families in need.
“I’ve received requests for 25 boxes from two elementary schools, and I know of 18 families from Westfield Technical Academy,” Czaporowski said. “I haven’t heard from the other schools yet.”
Perishable items being requested include eggs, butter, turkey, carrots, potatoes and milk. Canned goods include peas, gravy, carrots, cranberry sauce, tuna, peanut butter, pasta sauce and juice. Also needed are stuffing, cake mix, dinner rolls, instant potatoes, rice, cereal, oatmeal, beans and noodles. People may also donate gift cards to local grocery stores.
One of the student groups assisting will be Rachel’s Challenge, a group of twelve students committed to kindness. The group will assemble the meals, and help to deliver them on Tuesday. “They’re a great group,” Czaporowski said.
The Westfield Food Pantry is also preparing food boxes for the effort. Czaporowski said any perishable items that aren’t used will be donated back to the Food Pantry.
Remaining non-perishable items will go to food pantries in the Westfield schools. At least six schools have food pantries in them, including South Middle School, which started one this year.
“What we collect from this will help all of them,” he said.
In addition to the food items being requested, personal care items such as toilet paper, laundry soap, dish soap, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, toothbrushes and feminine hygiene products are always needed.
“We have a 54 percent free and reduced meal population here,” Czaporowski said. “We have these families, and we want to help them.”
“The community gives so much to our school, we want to give back,” he said.
