Schools

Martinez Jr. High Students Coordinate Holiday Food Drive

Over 1,100 pounds of food was collected over a two-week period.

Katey Pruter, an eighth-grader at Martinez Jr. High, could hardly contain her excitement as the van drove up to the doors of the Monument Crisis Center on Friday. She and her friends were there to deliver boxes of food and diapers that they spent two weeks collecting.

"We asked everybody in school to donate food," Pruter said. "I went to two classrooms and made a presentation. We made posters to show everyone what we were doing."

Pruter and her colleagues - Mackenzie Wilson, Courtney Nelson and Kyle Frolich - are all members of California Jr. Scholarship Federation (CJSF), an organization focused on academic achievement and community service. The food delivery on Friday was the culmination of their latest effort.

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And it was an effort that paid off handsomely. When the boxes of dried and canned food was weighed, it came to over 1,100 pounds. That doesn't include the many boxes of disposable diapers that were also collected for needy families this holiday season. And the need is certainly great, especially this year.

"We had a mom come in yesterday with a baby in the stroller," said Sandra Scherer, executive director of the crisis center. "She had no food, no money, and no diapers for her baby. We were able to give her diapers and food. You can imagine how desperate she felt. So yes, these donations are incredibly important."

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The need is only growing, Scherer said. The center gets about 100 new families each week seeking food; over 7,500 families are signed up for the program this year.

"This is an amazing feeling," said Wilson. "You hear a lot of things about how people need help, and it feels good to be able to do something about it."

Nelson agreed.

"This gives me a chance to see for myself how this helps people," she said.

"This feels really good," said Pruter. "I will definitely do this again."


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