Eighth-grader Matt Hughes and teacher Natalie Carroll (center), represent Forrestdale School in Rumson, which won a Spirit of Giving Award for collecting more than two tons of food for the FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties’ fifth annual School Holiday Hunger Challenge. They pose at the awards ceremony Dec. 5 with Bob Brown (far left), chairman of the board of trustees of the FoodBank, located in Neptune, and Neptune Mayor Kevin Bernard McMillan (far right). CHRIS KELLY The staff at the FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties didn’t know what to expect when they saw a tractor-trailer pull into the driveway in Neptune.
Then they realized it was a delivery from Howell High School of 12,704 pounds of food that students collected for the FoodBank’s fifth annual School Holiday Hunger Challenge.
Ninety-one schools, 62 located in Monmouth County and 19 in Ocean County, representing 47,440 students, participated in the challenge to provide complete family meals to those in need this holiday season.
This year, students brought in 68,721 pounds of food. Through the Pound Per Dollar challenge, another $25,000 in monetary donations was raised, and with additional sponsorship money the FoodBank reached its goal of 100,000 pounds of food.
According to Linda Keenan, director of development at the Food- Bank,
127,500 people each year receive emergency food, of whom 51,000 are children.
“That’s an 84 percent increase since 2005,” she said. “These are numbers that paint a picture of what can be seen in our local communities in Monmouth and Ocean counties.”
Keenan said that almost 7 million pounds of food was distributed out of the Neptune warehouse to 260 feeding programs throughout the area.
“If we didn’t get any food donations or monetary donations, this warehouse would be empty in six weeks because that’s how quickly we turn over the food,” she said.
The donations from this year’s challenge will also help to increase the unusually low food supply at the FoodBank.
For the challenge, each grade was assigned a specific food item, which was collected, delivered, weighed and recorded.
“Our kindergarten [and] firstgraders brought in light food items like powdered potatoes, and then the older kids brought in cans. So we get something of everything, from stuffing to fruit and vegetables to cereal and peanut butter and jelly,” said FoodBank media coordinator Ellen Koment.
Schools had from Sept. 26 to Nov. 21 to get their donations to the FoodBank. The challenge award ceremony on Dec. 5 recognized the elementary, intermediate and high schools, public and private, which exceeded giving expectations.
The winners were determined by a pound-per-student calculation that took the total pounds of food delivered and divided it by the total number of students in the school.
Howell High School was the exception, however, and won the Heavyweight Award for delivering the most pounds regardless of the number of students.
Middletown High School North was one of three schools to win the Philip N. Connelly Award for exceptional spirit, commitment and dedication for the cause of fighting hunger, said Keenan.
This award is made in memory of Philip N. Connelly, who in 2005 at the age of 9 received an unexpected gift of $1,000. He decided to give half of that to the FoodBank.
“Like so many citizens across America, Philip wanted to reach out and help in some way. He chose to send $500 to the FoodBank with a note that said he wanted to give because there are people out there who didn’t have food like he did,” said Keenan.
Connelly’s mother and sister presented the winning schools with a plaque while other teary-eyed family members were present in the audience.
“Philip tragically died in a car accident on Sept. 5, 2009. Because of Philip’s extraordinary act of generosity and kindness, the FoodBank continues to commemorate and honor his life by awarding the Philip N. Connelly Spirit of Giving Award,” said Keenan.
Kevin Moedt, a senior, was one of the students at Middletown High School North to help organize food drives and raise funds through a badminton tournament and bagel parties. The school collected 3,492 pounds of food and $1,344 in the Pounds Per Dollar challenge for a total of 4,836 pounds.
“North is really involved in the community. It’s really good for the school, and seeing that little girl and her mother [the Connellys] really made me feel special for doing this program,” said Moedt, who is part of the Civic Leadership program at the high school.
The Forrestdale School in Rumson was a division award winner for the elementary school level, bringing in a total of 4,192 pounds of food. They also won a Spirit of Giving Award.
Matt Hughes, eighth-grade president of the Student Government Association, said everyone in the school was enthusiastic about the challenge, regardless of the pizza party incentive for the winning homeroom.
“It wasn’t just about getting the pizza party. Everyone knew that the cause was to get this overall goal of donating to a good cause,” he said.
“It’s a really great thing to be honored for this because unlike some other fundraisers that we do, the food drive really has an effect. It goes to a good cause, and it’s great to be honored for something like that because it shows that you have some good moral values.”
Forrestdale teacher and student government adviser Natalie Carroll said the school could not have achieved this award without help from students at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School, who picked up the food and delivered it to the FoodBank.
The Harbor School in Eatontown, St. John Vianney High School in Holmdel, Howell Middle School and the Monmouth Ocean Educational Service Commission in Tinton Falls also won Spirit of Giving Awards.
Representatives from other food banks in the state attended the awards ceremony. According to Koment, the idea of making this challenge a statewide initiative as the Governor’s Cup is gaining momentum.