JWMS STUDENTS ATTACK HUNGER: John Witherspoon Middle School eighth grade student Harvi Shergill, shown here outside Sam’s Club preparing to ask customers for on the spot food donations, is among the resourceful students taking part in the “Students Change Hunger Challenge for New Jersey.” JWMS is seeking non-perishable food items such as pasta, rice, lentils, flour; boxed desserts and mac & cheese; canned goods such as vegetables, fruits, soups, tuna, and ham; as well as shelf-stable milk. For safety’s sake no foodstuffs in glass containers are requested but checks made out to the Mercer Street Friends are welcomed through November 20. (Photo by Aman Shergill)

Students at John Witherspoon Middle School (JWMS) are reaching out to the community for help in their efforts to combat hunger.

They have taken on the task in response to the “Students Change Hunger Challenge for New Jersey,” and their goal is to collect at least 3,000 pounds of food by November 20.

Between now and then, students will be collecting non perishable food items as well as monetary donations, with each single dollar collected (in the form of a check to the Mercer Street Friends) equivalent to one pound of food.

And it looks like their efforts are already paying off. One student, Anuhav Suri, has already collected over 1,000 pounds of food, said JWMS teacher Kelly Riely, the school’s technology teacher and advisor to the Do Something Club, the PPS Girls Club, and track and field coach. “This is an amazing effort.”

“Our students want to help our friends and neighbors stamp out hunger and we will be having a pep rally in a couple weeks, when they will travel by bus with the food donations truck to the Mercer Street Friends Food Bank. They will tour the facility and help weigh and sort the donated food,” said JWMS parent Aman Shergill, who helped organize the drive in response to a request from the Mercer Street Friends.

Thinking that middle-schoolers would be the “right age group to be actively involved, to help stamp out hunger as well as a good opportunity for them to understand this is for real and close to home,” Ms Shergill contacted Ms. Riely. “With a yes from our school principals, we were good to go,” she said. “This is a great ‘lead by example’ opportunity, not only for my own children, but for others too.”

Besides Ms. Riely and her students, fellow teacher Ashante Thompson brought members of her Peer to Peer group into the effort.

According to Ms. Riely, the hunger challenge is not only of benefit to the community, it yields opportunities for teaching too. “This has been an incredible lesson,” she said. “Students have researched food insecurity and have written scripts for our internal broadcasts; they interviewed our food director, peers, and teachers about food insecurity and the importance of advocating for those in need. The Do Something Club has seen it’s biggest enrollment in over nine years; I attribute this to the passion our students have for those in need and this very cool statewide food challenge.”

“The Do Something Club meets two days a week, but for the last month I’ve had students showing up at my door almost every day asking ‘what can be done?’” said Ms. Riely. “Students designed marketing ads, brochures, posters, wrapped boxes, they tweeted, posted on social media, and much more to get the word out. Many students took it upon themselves to ‘can or treat’ on Halloween night, asking for support by way of canned good donations. One student even made it his personal mission to collect over 500 pounds of food; another, took it upon herself to personally ask managers and owners of over 20 stores for support through an internal employee drive. Another asked her father to run a collection at his football practices in Princeton. The response has been incredible,” she said. Local businesses and professionals also taking part in the “hunger challenge” are: dentists Dr. Stephen I. Hudis at 187 North Harrison Street; orthodontists Dr. Louis Russo and Dr. Jonathan Nicozisis at 601 Ewing Street; Infini-T Cafe; 4 Hulfish Street; Mike’s Barber, 33 Witherspoon Street; Star Glow on Route 206; The Savory Spice Shop, 15 Spring Street; and TJ Pizza, 2661 Main Street in Lawrenceville.

Ms. Riely also shared this emailed response from Anubhav Suri, a student member of the Do Something Club who wrote “without your encouragement and assistance I never would have been able to do something like this. I am really glad I took the opportunity to join the Do Something Club and I believe that it has made me a better person. I really enjoy doing kind things for others because it also gives me this great feeling and on top of it all it is really, really fun!”

“This is why we teach,” enthused Ms. Riley, adding that with only two weeks to go, the school is already half way to achieving its goal.

Non-perishable food items may be dropped off at the School’s main office at 217 Walnut Lane. In addition, there are collection points in the Princeton Public Schools Administration Building at 25 Valley Road; the Princeton Police Station in Witherspoon Hall; McCaffrey’s Supermarket in the Princeton Shopping Center; and the Shoprite on Route 206.

To donate dollars, checks should be made out to the Mercer Street Friends with the words “JWMS SCHC” in the memo line. All donations go to the Mercer Street Friends to benefit over 40 food pantries. The school which donates the most pounds of food will be awarded the “Governor’s Cup.”