Students from St. Rose of Lima School, Freehold, recently participated in the school’s first “Loaves and Fishes Hunger Challenge.” The classes collected food and the one with the most contributions was invited to deliver the items to the nearby Freehold Open Door Food Pantry.

The idea for the “Loaves and Fishes Hunger Challenge” started when the school’s PTA learned that during the winter months, it is very difficult for food pantries to keep their shelves stocked and many people find it hard to feed their families. This past year, more than 127,000 people needed emergency food supplies in the Freehold community.

With this in mind, the school organized its first “Loaves and Fishes Hunger Challenge” to be held in February and March and donations would be given to the Freehold Area Open Door Food Pantry. Kickoff for the challenge was during Catholic Schools Week and emphasized the value of giving to others, a central part of a Catholic School education.

 “Our students and families rose to the call to feed the hungry and gave generously from their hearts,” said Janet Drudy, religion teacher. Drudy’s eighth grade students volunteered each Friday during the two-month long drive to ensure donations were tallied and delivered from the classrooms to the food pantry.

Teachers kept the momentum going as classes competed to see who could bring in the most items. The kindergarten (KB) class won the challenge, donating 1,958 items. The school’s combined total was 7,330 items.

Students in the KB class had an opportunity to visit the Open Door with their eighth grade counterparts April 19 and saw firsthand how their donations helped to fulfill the pantry’s mission.

Kindergartners Tommy Decker and Nicolas Epp said of their visit to the food pantry: “We learned that we could help others by bringing food in for them and their families. It feels good to help others.”

Other students realized that while there are people who are very, very hungry they can help.