Last month marked the one year anniversary of the unique, student-led KCI Food Pantry at SAR High School. With its new location in a storefront on Riverdale Avenue at 259th Street, the pantry now has a home and an official headquarters from which to run its very important initiative.
“Students and teachers make class visits to the Pantry during their advisory periods to pack food,” said Zehava Seidman, chesed coordinator at SAR High School. “This effort, which is built into their curriculum, provides students with unique chesed, leadership and learning opportunities. It bonds them as a group and provides a meaningful way for students to make a difference in their broader community.”
Over the course of three days, students and faculty delivered much needed food to over 60 families in the Bronx and Westchester communities, providing pantry staples, fresh produce, turkey for Thanksgiving, and candles, chocolate gelt and dreidels for Chanukah. The food has been made available to the pantry at no-cost by the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty (MET Council) so the pantry doesn’t need to rely on outside donations, and it is available for anyone who thinks that a little extra help will benefit their family.
In the past year, the pantry has served over 100 families, making nearly 700 deliveries, bringing over nine tons of produce to those who are homebound and/or food insecure. Some of the food items included 900 dozen eggs, nearly 1,000 chickens, as well as grains, cereal, legumes, peanut butter and milk. Pantry volunteers, made up exclusively of student packers and student and teacher delivery people, have not missed a week since its inception, volunteering their time both during school year and throughout this past summer.
“We are so proud of MET Council’s partnership with KCI and SAR High School and their joint effort in creating a food pantry to fight food insecurity in the community,” said David Greenfield, CEO and executive director of MET Council. “The students are doing tremendous work alleviating the struggles of their neighbors. It’s a real teaching moment about the challenges that so many New Yorkers face during Covid and how to make a daily difference in people’s lives.”
The spirit of chesed is strong throughout the entire SAR community. In January, there are plans to host a parent social event for 11th grade parents so they can pack food and experience this significant act of chesed on a personal level.
“Volunteering at the food pantry was a great experience,” said Sarah Berger, a freshman student who recently visited the pantry for the first time. “I was excited to have the chance to help people who are less fortunate and make a difference in their lives and it’s amazing that we can do this as a school community.”
