MANVILLE: Weston students add to county food bank

By Mary Ellen Zangara, Special Writer
   Weston School students collected over 700 items of food for the Somerset County Food Bank that was picked up on Monday. The collection took place over the past few weeks.
   Sharon Lukac, a food bank volunteer, said that, “Last week I was called by Weston School PTA President Jeanne Lombardino that they had collected a large amount of donations for the needy of Somerset County. When I arrived to receive the donations, all I could say is WOW! The students, parents, staff, and administration had collected over 700 cans of food. In these tough times this group took it upon themselves to look out for their fellow mankind, showing what a truly great community we have.”
   The Manville schools collected food also in November and Ms. Lukac commented that, “I collected a generous donation of food from our schools for the Somerset County Food Network. Upon bringing these much needed supplies to the Food Network, I was told that there was a larger shortage of food than usual. With this in mind, I contacted the schools and PTA to alert them of this problem that people from all over our county were facing, and asked if they could put together another food drive in the near future.”
   Ms. Lombardino did just that.
   ”I think is so important to give back to our community,” she said. They also ran a contest to see which class could collect the most items. “We ran a contest in the school for all the classes. The classes that brought in 100 cans of food were given a free homework pass. Mrs. Tomson’s kindergarten class and Ms. Mazzaro’s third grade class were the winners. We tried to be creative this time and make it fun for the kids.”
   Marie Scannell, executive director of the Somerset County Food Bank Network, said, “The food drive at Weston School is so gratefully appreciated; especially now since the number of families using our food bank is increasing. There are still many people losing their jobs and the cost of living continues to rise. It is the people in our communities that donate food that make a difference in the lives of so many families. Thank you for your commitment to helping others.”
   ”Once again, I thank you for all the generosity and the hard work everyone in our community gives to helping others,” said Ms. Lukac.