“No one wants to be in the spotlight,” Judy Crone explained. “With food prices putting pressure on the budget of all working families, everyone benefits from having a little extra food in the pantry.”
April and Judy Crone envisioned a system which would enable all students to take home a bag of nutritious food, including fruit, vegetables, and pasta. Each family is free to use it or donate it to others in need.
Items include potatoes, fresh spinach, blackberries, and boxes of macaroni and cheese. The Good Shepherd Food Bank makes a monthly delivery to East Grand School on the third Thursday of each month.
With the help of student volunteers, the food is sorted into grocery bags and made ready for the students to take it home. At the end of the day, all students will leave school through the cafeteria, picking up their groceries on the way out. Any leftover bags are donated to families that might not have students attending the school.
Food isn’t the only thing the program brings to East Grand. The student volunteers learn valuable lessons about how food is organized for distribution, as well as giving them an opportunity to directly serve their community in a way that benefits everyone.
