COLTS NECK – More than 17,000 students have joined together to help provide food for those in need this holiday season. Colts Neck High School has joined other schools in the area to pick up the challenge being offered by the FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties through Nov. 16.
The FoodBank has challenged all elementary schools, intermediate schools and high schools – public and private – in Monmouth and Ocean counties to think of those less fortunate this holiday season by running a special food drive.
According to a press release, the goal of the Holiday Hunger Challenge is to increase an unusually low food supply at the Food- Bank as well as to provide complete family meals to those in need this holiday season. Each grade has been assigned a specific food item which will be collected and delivered to the FoodBank where it will be logged in and weighed. Items range from canned fruits and vegetables to boxed instant mashed potatoes.
Susan Kelly, executive director of the FoodBank, said, “Our food supplies are reduced and we are presently struggling to meet the need requested by our charities. I am proud of the schools and the students for responding to this challenge and hold them as an example of how we can work together to help those less fortunate in our communities.”
Cash prizes totaling $5,000 will be awarded to schools in each county that collect the most pounds of food per student. The 2007 Schools Holiday Hunger Challenge Champion Award trophy will be awarded to the one school district that collects the most pounds of food per student.