Students REACH out to less fortunate
Middle school collects over 4,000 items for food bank
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP Staff Writer

ERIC SUCAR staff Millstone Township Middle School students load boxes and bags with canned and dry goods Nov. 26 after holding a drive for the FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties in Neptune. The school collected over 4,000 donated items.

Boxes piled heavy with canned goods and heaps of plastic bags loaded with other food items culminated a lesson in respect at the middle school and a service to the community.

As part of the Millstone Township Middle School's REACH (Respect, Environment, Attitude, Courtesy and Honesty) program, all sixth-, seventh- and eighthgraders participated in a food drive for the FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, based in Neptune. Freeholder Barbara McMorrow visited the school Nov. 26 to commend the students for their efforts and to help pack over 4,000 donated items for transport to the food bank.

"All of these young people are the future of our county," McMorrow said. "I love being with them and seeing them learn this lesson today. I thank the superintendent, principal, vice principal and teachers for presenting this lesson to the students. This is a lesson they will learn for life."

PHOTOS BY ERIC SUCAR staff Left: Eighth-graders at the Millstone Township Middle School pack donated goods into boxes for transport to the FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties Nov. 26.

McMorrow said the food bank is in dire need of donations and reminded students that the center doesn't just serve those without homes or jobs.

"Working families can't put gas in their cars or food on their tables," McMorrow said. "And, 40 percent of those the food bank helps are children."

The school's Vice Principal Matthew Howell and eighth-grade REACH advisers John White, Laura Czvornyek, Michal Friedman, Mary O'Rourke and Mary Jane Russo led the community service project to its completion, according to Principal Michelle Vella.

"They really worked to get the groups excited," Vella said.

Vella said the idea for the service project came from a newspaper article students read about the county's food bank supplies drying up prior to Thanksgiving.

Above: Millstone Township Middle School students complete a community service project for their REACH (Respect, Environment, Attitude, Courtesy and Honesty) program.

"They're an empathetic group of students," Vella said.

She noted that seventh-grader Jordan Davis, 13, has a "heart of gold" for deciding to use all of his birthday money to purchase goods for the drive.

"I think all of the students are coming out of this with a sense of fulfillment," Vella said. "They are a great group of kids that takes pride in reaching out to the community and helping other people who do not have as much as they do."

Jordan said he bought 90 cans of food with the $50 he received on his birthday Nov. 1. and would do it all over again if presented with the opportunity.

"This is really an upper-class community," he said. "We all should give food and money to those who don't have that much and we should all be proud of ourselves for doing it."

Eighth-grader Alex Lipman, 13, said the REACH food drive helped teach students the important lesson of learning to respect others.

Eighth-grader Matt Curiale, 13, added that students learned how to reach out to their community through the drive.

"Everyone should be equal," he said. "Everyone should have food to eat. It feels good knowing you helped someone less fortunate."

Eighth-grader Joe Conoscenti, 13, said, "We can't take anything for granted. The people here had closets full and now we are feeding people without closets."

Joe added that he believes it is important for today's youth to do community service.

"It will always help you gain respect for others and for yourself," he said.