Shields students donate 1,000 pounds of food for Food Bank of Delaware

Each year, fifth-grade students at Shields Elementary School select an organization or program to host a school fundraiser for around the Easter holiday. This year, students collected food and toiletries throughout the month of March. At the end of the month, students helped load up a truck to take the donations to the Food Bank of Delaware.

“We needed an added challenge to this year’s fundraiser,” said fifth-grade teacher Malorie Tartal. “We asked students at Shields to set a goal to donate 1,000 pounds’ worth of items, and they certainly did not disappoint!”

Students from all grade levels donated everything from canned goods to toothbrushes totaling 1,164 pounds, surpassing that 1,000-pound goal.

“We could not be more proud of the work that all of our students, staff and parents put into this food drive,” said fifth-grade teacher Tara Davis. “All in all, we have 349 bags and boxes of cereal, rice and pasta, and 1,253 cans of food!”

Along with the food, 32 toothpaste tubes, 60 toothbrushes and 20 deodorants for men and women were also acquired throughout the month. While the competition was really with the scale in which the food was being weighed, the students and teachers also hosted a side competition between the classrooms. “We wanted to see who could collect the highest number of donations throughout the school,” said Tartal. “We have to give a special shout out to Gail Drummond’s class who collected the most with 199 donations!”