Madness about food donations
March 17, 2019
CUMAC’s webpage talks about holding food drives or collections for those in need. The pantry, located in Paterson, accepts canned and boxed goods year round.
March Madness is here! For some people, this means basketball. For students at Patrick M. Villano School, this is the time to donate food to a local homeless shelter and have fun along the way. The fun comes from making a donation. It’s not just any donation, however. Students collect canned and boxed goods as part of a schoolwide competition. The homeroom that collects the most goods wins.
“I am quite excited about it! You can take action of food. When you have class that really helps the community, you feel good about yourself,” fifth-grader Christopher Pinto-Spiegel said.
Each week, Student Congress representatives count the items donated in each homeroom. Students in the winning class load all the cans and boxes into the local food truck. The food truck belongs to CUMAC in Paterson, NJ. In 1985, CUMAC started as the Center of United Methodist Aid to the Community Ecumenically Concerned Helping Others. Sixth grade student Jordan Marsh beamed as she talked about helping CUMAC.
“It is so much fun! I like donating the food and competing with other classmates to get more food,” Marsh said.
Each homeroom creates a special class name, too.
“The names are creative! I personally like the Mint Macchiatos,” Marsh added. Most of the sixth grade homerooms chose a Starbucks theme. The Mint Macchiatos are Mrs. McClafferty and Mrs. Martin’s homeroom.