Wilton High School students are working to help supplement a recent Person-to-Person food drive that took in much lower than usual donations. Students are invited to bring donations to school this week, through Thursday, June 7. Donation bins will be located outside of the Main Office on the second floor.
The National Association of Letter Carriers Food Drive holds an annual effort called “Stamp Out Hunger,” which is typically the largest food drive for Person-to-Person each year. However, organizers report that the 2018 food drive effort fell far short of expectations.
“Unfortunately, we did not receive as much donated food as we have in previous years. In fact, we received 10,000 pounds less, from what is the largest food drive P2P has each year which stocks our Food Pantries with three months of food for families,” said Cece Maher, executive director of Person-to-Person.
Maher says that 10,000-pound shortfall will have a significant impact on P2P’s ability to provide groceries to families and children over the summer months–a time of year when demand is higher because parents are preparing meals for their children who usually receive free or reduced-price meals at school during the other months of the year.
This year’s food drive was held on Saturday, May 12, a day that saw off-and-on rain showers, which might have impacted donations. In addition, several Wilton residents reported that notice from the postal service was either late or didn’t arrive at all and so many people didn’t know that food donations were being accepted.
The items needed for the food pantry include: canned soup, canned fruit, canned vegetables, pasta, pasta sauce, oatmeal, cereal, mac & cheese, beans (canned and dry), peanut butter, jelly, nutritional snacks, rice and canned tuna.