Granum School holds successful food drive in the community

By Rob Vogt
Homes in Granum were blanketed with teal bags last week – all for a good cause.
Students at Granum School distributed the bags asking people, if they were able, to put donations into them for the Granum Food Bank.
Students and volunteer drivers then hit the streets on Friday, Oct. 20 collecting all the bags and bringing them to the Granum Drop-In where the food bank is located.
In total, about 75 bags of donations for the food bank were collected.
“We’re trying to build school community,” said Principal Randy Bohnet, adding the food drive involved students, parents, staff and the community. “We thought this would be a great way to do that.”
He got the idea for placing the bags in advance from a church food drive in another community.
“It’s very effective,” Bohnet said. “This puts it right on their door step.”
The school looked at its goals and one was community involvement.
So the school approached the food bank, who were very appreciative.
Bohnet said they wanted to raise awareness of the food bank in Granum.
“This is really to help us reach that goal,” he said.
Five parent drivers volunteered to do the collection, including Amanda Gallant who has two sons in the school.
“I think it’s fantastic,” she said of the food drive, noting it brings the community together.
“I love doing it this way,” she added. “The kids had a lot of fun.
“They’re excited to be involved.”
Gallant was also impressed with the response.
“I was pleasantly surprised,” she said. “This is more than we expected.
“This is unbelievable.”
Eleanor Rondeau is a long-time volunteer at the food bank.
She said it has been going more than 10 years, and is open two days a week, from 9 a.m. to noon on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.
The food bank is always accepting donations, which can be dropped off in a box located inside the entrance to the Granum Drop-In.
“We can always use donations,” Rondeau said.
The food bank accepts non-perishable food items such as pasta, tomato sauce, cereal, dried goods and more.
People are encouraged to check the best-before date on items before donating them.
Cash is also welcome because it can be used to purchase items that are not donated, or that cannot be stored for long, such as milk.
Rondeau said use of the food bank has been increasing, noting even working families need that extra boost.
“We’ve really noticed an increase this year,” she said.
In a month, the food bank will distribute 10 to 15 hampers.
They also have a Christmas Hamper Program, where people will receive a full Christmas meal as well as a full hamper for the month. Last year the food bank gave out 26 hampers.
This year, people must register by the first part of December for a hamper.
The food bank does an Angel Tree as well. When people register for a Christmas Hamper, if they have children, a tag for each child is placed on a tree, with general information but not the name.
People can then choose to take a tag, buy that gift, and bring it back wrapped.
“That way kids get at least one gift,” Rondeau said.
Bohnet said the food drive will be something the school pursues annually.
Rondeau said she was impressed with the first one.
“To me, this absolutely fantastic,” she said. “Especially for a first time.”