Lakeview K-8 creates food pantry with student, business help

Staff report

CORTLAND

Bulldog Pantry at the new Lakeview K-8 School is being sponsored by Cortland car dealership Wollam Chevrolet.

Tom Fye of Wollam Chevrolet recently presented a $10,000 check to teachers Kara Kasula and Margie Petrunia, pantry coordinators, and Lakeview Middle School Principal Ashley Handrych.

“We wanted to do this because we believe in the work taking place here,” Fye said. “We believe in what our local schools are doing to educate our students, and what they are doing to help the families in our community.”

Kasula and Petrunia started buying food with funds Petrunia raised through selling pop and water in the teachers’ workrooms.

Ten bags of food were sent home Oct. 5 to help students get through the weekend.

Since then, these students received a bag every weekend, the coordinators said. Also, food boxes were sent home to help families over Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks.

The following are some of the things students have done to contribute to the pantry:

The eighth-grade student council had a Nov. 16 bake sale at the middle school dodgeball tournament and donated $180 in proceeds.

An eighth-grade group created a slide show and pitched an idea to Handrych to sell T-shirts, raising nearly $400.

Students in grades five through eight had a canned/boxed food drive that collected 1,300 food items used to stock the pantry.

The pantry also has received financial support from several local groups, organizations, individuals and businesses.

Any child can visit the pantry with an adult at any time.