By Esther Schlotterbeck
and Meredith Byard
Auburn Middle School
Do you know anyone in Maine that uses food stamps? Chances are you do; over 10% of people in Maine are involved in the food stamp program. Auburn Middle School decided to help the problem in celebration of the 100th day of school. The AMS Civil Rights Team and Student Council sponsored a school wide food drive.
The Civil Rights Team posted announcements around the school encouraging students to bring in nonperishable food items and personal care products. We based our contributions on a wish list from the food pantry. Since food stamps do not buy personal care items, food pantries can never keep enough in stock, so we emphasized collecting these.
On Fri., Feb. 13, which was the hundredth day of school, representatives from the St. Louis Food Pantry, the High St. Congregational Church Food Pantry and the Seventh Day Adventist Church Food Pantry came to AMS and picked up our donations. We were also able to talk with some of the representatives from the food pantries and learned about their services.
The donations came at the perfect time, “It is the right time. The shelves are low,” said a representative from the St. Louis Food Pantry. We had a good out come with our first food drive, so we are planning on doing another in the near future.
A special thanks goes to Shaw’s, K-mart, and Wal-mart for donating gift certificates to the cause.
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