The Franklin Park Middle School in Salem has collected 9,162 items in their recent two-week food drive to benefit the Salem Ministerial Alliance Food Pantry.
Carol Ann Short at the food pantry welcomed the donation.
“Franklin Park did an amazing job,” Short said. “They collected all kinds of fruit and vegetables. It was so nice whenever they helped us line them up against the wall. We could see this great selection, just like you were in a grocery store. I know that we had guests who were really excited to have a much better selection of fruits and veggies to select from.”
The 8th grade class easily won the competition between the grades, with 5,165 items collected. The 7th grade collected 490 items, 6th grade 1,633, 5th grade 1,100 and 4th grade 324 cans. Ms. Maxey’s room won the top class award, collecting 1,500 items.
Short says the food pantry is always in need of items. She is especially on the lookout now for peanut butter and jelly.
“We have a grocery cart here at Grace Methodist that we keep near the front door. You can just drop it off here at the church in a grocery cart and it will get to our pantry guests.”
Short says about 600 families are now being served, down from a peak last fall when the number spiked during the time there was concern about the federal Link program during the federal government shutdown.
The food pantry is open for guests from 1:30 to 5 on Monday and 10 to 1:30 on Thursday.
