News

Thirty-eight Pike School Second Graders and their teachers filled the thirty- by forty-foot warehouse of Neighbors in Need at Dundee Park in Andover early in March. They each carried bags and boxes of canned goods donated by themselves and fellow Lower School students. In total their contributions weighed in at 175 pounds of canned meats, tuna, boxed pasta, soup, beans, and assorted other foods.

Neighbors in Need has been providing food, diapers, formula, clothing, and other necessities to the poor and hungry since 1983. It is a community organization that relies heavily on area schools, religious congregations, and other organizations for support.

The Pike students were there not only to deliver donations, but also to help out in the warehouse. After Linda Zimmerman, director of Neighbors in Need, explained the warehouse setup, students took food from a large pile of donated items, checked the dates to ensure they were still usable, and then passed them to the sorter at the appropriately marked crate for that type of food. Once filled, the crates were carried by a teacher to another area of full crates, also organized by type of food.

The day of the students’ visit was also a day that Panera Bread makes one of its regular charitable deliveries to Neighbors in Need. That gave the students the opportunity to provide additional help by redistributing bread and bagels from the large delivery bags to smaller bags of each. A variety of adult volunteers joined the students in the warehouse to help, as well, including the two gentlemen who do the regular pickup of food from Pike.

(Photos: Hilary Munroe)