Twenty-six 4th grade students at Bullis received hands-on knowledge April 17 of how powerful a group can be if each one just gives a little. They were responsible for loading 1,367 boxes of cereal donated by the students and families of Bullis onto the Manna truck — and those 1,367 boxes nearly filled the truck to capacity. When working out the math, the students realized that it only required each Bullis student to bring in two boxes of cereal to fill the truck and stock the Manna shelves.
“That’s enough cereal to feed my family forever,” one student said.
“How long do you think it will last at Manna?” asked their teacher, Kate Powell.
“Maybe a week — or maybe two,” the students answered.
Manna’s Development Manager Allison Krumsiek Anderson verified that the amount of donated cereal would last at least a week. “We give out 192 boxes of cereal every day,” she said. “We rely on community donations to help us provide 20,000 pounds of food a day. It is so important to provide breakfast to families. Studies show that kids who don’t eat breakfast can’t learn. They have better behavior and can function much better, particularly when the breakfast has high nutritional value. We are truly grateful to Bullis for such a huge donation.”
“The drive was initiated six years ago,” said Dr. Sara Romeyn, community service coordinator. “The number of boxes of cereal collected over a two-week period has increased each year. We encourage students to bring in healthy cereal.”
She continued, “Students from all classes worked on the drive. The National Junior Honor Society counted each box, the 4th graders loaded the Manna truck and all grades collected cereal and delivered the boxes from their classrooms to the main counting and staging area in the Blair Auditorium. They love participating in loading the trucks — and knowing they made a difference.”
Fourth grade students were proud of their efforts as they surveyed the huge number of boxes. “I feel good about helping with this because it’s going to give kids cereal to eat in the morning,” said Tigan Small.
Sloan Bernstein and Coley Samuels, Olivia Herron and Aamilah Khanu were also happy to participate in the drive.
“We always give our outgrown clothes to charity, but this time we get to load the truck and see that it is going to help feed people right away who don’t have food like we do,” said Sophia Goretsky.
The 4th grade students also presented an assembly on hunger in Montgomery County to the rest of the school. They explained that 1 in 3 children in Montgomery County Public Schools are hungry and participate in the free or reduced lunch program. Thousands of people in Montgomery County rely on emergency food programs because it is expensive to live here, there’s a high rate of unemployment and the economy is affecting a lot of people. Sometimes people have to choose between putting food on their table and buying medicine to survive. That’s why donating food to MANNA is critical since it is Montgomery County’s only food distribution organization.