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New Canaan's East School Collected 3,802 Food Items To Fill In The Blanks

NEW CANAAN, Conn. -- Kids at New Canaan's East Elementary School recently helped Filling in the Blanks, a nonprofit that fights childhood hunger by providing food on the weekends to children in need.

Students at East Elementary School, in New Canaan, packed items for Fill the Blanks bags, after having gathered food in a food drive.

Students at East Elementary School, in New Canaan, packed items for Fill the Blanks bags, after having gathered food in a food drive.

Photo Credit: contributed
Students at East Elementary School, in New Canaan, packed items for Fill the Blanks bags, after having gathered food in a food drive.

Students at East Elementary School, in New Canaan, packed items for Fill the Blanks bags, after having gathered food in a food drive.

Photo Credit: contributed

From Feb. 1-5, East School held a food drive, Principal Kristine Woleck said. After collecting food donations, students came together the next week, with younger students partnering with older students from their "Buddy Class" to pack items into bags.

Through the program, bags of easy-to-make, shelf-stable items are sent home each Friday with children from K to seventh grade, in Stamford and Bedford, New York. Children qualify if they also qualify for free or reduced-price lunch programs and may have limited access to food on the weekends.

These are the numbers from this event:

  • 777 packages of Goldfish or Cheez-Its
  • 539 packages of cereal
  • 505 soup cans
  • 1,390 packages of fruit snacks or raisins
  • 529 packages of popcorn
  • 62 other items

Each pair of kids packed 30 bags of food -- for a total of 420 weekend bags. So 420 children will have meals for a weekend thanks to the work of East School students. The remaining food items will be donated to Filling in the Blanks to use with filling other weekend bags.

This school-wide community service project, coordinated by liaisons from the East Parent-Teacher Council, allowed East students to participate in the work in a hands-on way, and students could see firsthand how their work could make a difference for other children.

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