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Dobbins second-graders donate food to Poland Food Pantry
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Jackie Grisdale (back) and Giorgio Kalouris had to check the food drive boxes to make sure they were well stocked and organized.
By SARAH FOOR
On Feb. 16, the second-graders at Dobbins Elementary celebrated 100 days in school. Although the milestone was a great celebration, the classrooms didn’t want to keep the festivities to themselves.
Over the next three weeks, teachers Chris Roussos and Karen DeVito helped their students collect 100 canned and nonperishable foods that they will be donating to the Poland Food Pantry.
The 100 food donation joins a list of many service projects that the Dobbins second-graders participated in throughout the year. For Thanksgiving, the classes donated holiday meals to the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley. During the Christmas holiday, students decorated trees with hats and gloves they donated to local shelters.
Although the focus was on area charities in previous activities, Roussos wanted the 100 donation to benefit Poland.
“Many of my kids have asked me, ‘There are people that are hungry here in Poland?’ I think the students always assume that hardships are happening somewhere else. We give back to many area charities, but this time, I really wanted the kids to learn that it can happen anywhere, even very close to home.”
Giorgio Kalouris learned a lot about current events through the project.
“I didn’t understand how things I heard on the news affected everybody,” he reflected. “We learned that times are tough for some families because moms or dads lost their jobs, and that they might need help getting something to eat. We didn’t think that there might be hungry families here in Poland until now.”
Student Jackie Grisdale hopes her classroom always pursues charity.
“It makes me feel really good inside when I give back,” she shared.
Although the students only aimed to collect 100 dry or canned goods, the grand total came to 113 foodstuffs. The classrooms handed over their donation to the Poland Food Pantry on March 11.