Keystone Opportunity Center recently received support from 6,479 students during their annual Souderton School District Food Drive & Quarter Collection. Keystone’s Food Pantry was given more than 2,150 lbs of food, paper products and personal care items from the district’s five elementary schools and two middle schools. The donations will help serve the 225 households who use Keystone’s Food Pantry each month, all of whom reside in the Souderton Area School District. The schools also raised more than $100 in quarters to support Keystone, which also runs a homeless shelter, low-income housing, and literacy education in Bucks and Montgomery counties.

The Food Drive & Quarter Collection is an annual district tradition dating back more than five years. Each school is asked to donate certain supplies, to help diversify the quantities of each item in Keystone’s Food Pantry. Indian Crest Middle School collected more than 180 lbs of peanut butter and jelly. Oak Ridge Elementary School collected more than 700 lbs of laundry detergent and soap. At West Broad Elementary School, the school challenged each classroom to see which class could bring in the most supplies. The winning classroom picked a willing teacher to do a challenge. This year, the willing teacher ate a Jelly Belly BeanBoozled® jelly bean.

The Drive is one week long, but the schools teach empathy all year. “We are educating the whole child, going beyond academics,” said Jonathan Graff, Principal at Vernfield Elementary School.

A fifth grader at West Broad Street Elementary said they gave “to help kids who don’t have a lot.” One fifth grader used his birthday money to buy supplies for this year’s food drive.

Students at Vernfield and Salford Hills Elementary Schools also planted crops in their school’s community gardens. At the end of each school year, the food they grow is added to Keystone’s Food Pantry as an additional donation. In 2017, Salford Hills Elementary donated 1,051 lbs of food from their community garden.

Keystone Opportunity Center is a 501c3 non-profit organization that offers a comprehensive array of social services that educate, encourage and empower people to become self-sufficient. Keystone Opportunity Center is housing the homeless, feeding the hungry and educating adults and families in Bucks and Montgomery Counties.  More information on Keystone Opportunity Center can be found at www.KeystoneOpportunity.org.

 
 

Information & Image Provided By:
Alan M. Raisman
Manager of Advancement
Keystone Opportunity Center

 

 

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