Friday, February 6 is Food For All: the monthly food drive conducted in partnership with all six of the Moorestown Township Public Schools.
Food For All is a community effort performed with the support of local non-profits, as well as the MEA, MTPS teachers and students. The Food For All project occurs on the 1st Friday of each month and is a food drive that supports the Bethel AME Pantry, First Baptist Pantry and the Live Civilly/Ministerium Pantry to help local families in need. The local non-profits serve as connectors between the schools and help to facilitate delivery and assistance at the pantries.
During the Food For All initiative, MTPS students and staff are encouraged to bring non-perishable items to school. School staff and students will send all collections to a central location. Volunteers from the four Non-Profit groups (Live Civilly, MooreKids, Our Shared Ground and Sean Fischel Connect) will pick up the goods from the schools and delivered them to the specified pantry locations.
Imagine if each student in MTPS brought just ONE non-perishable item to school that would equate to more than 4,000 pounds of food! Even if HALF of the student body brings one item – a bag of rice – a can of soup – a box of cereal – a jar of peanut butter – that would be nearly 2,000 pounds of food!
Does your student attend another school in Moorestown and want to get involved? Does your student want to serve as an inter-school Ambassador? Contact live civilly and we will help them establish a Food For All campaign in their own school. Live civilly’s mission is to help youth become actively engaged and help facilitate their natural philanthropic nature. Contact Kahra Buss at kahra@livecivilly.org to discuss a Student Ambassador role!
live civilly has set up youth and family volunteer opportunities EVERY FRIDAY so that our youngest community members can actively engage in the sorting and organization of pantry goods. Volunteers are given the opportunity to actively engage in the pantry operations and are given a lesson about food insecurity and ways who help. If you or your family are interested in volunteering at the pantry please visit our Sign Up Genius. Food For All is conducted year round through our community partners: Township of Moorestown (Town Hall); Moorestown Department of Parks & Recreation (Church Street Rec Center) and the Moorestown Library! Check the live civilly website to find additional locations as partners join us!
In 2015 there will be additional volunteer opportunities connected to the pantry, including the opportunity to connect with the Community Supported Gardens in the spring and summer. This year, live civilly is proud to announce the expansion of the Live Civilly/UES Partnership Garden, a new location at Roberts Elementary School as well as the continued production at the Camden Avenue location. All of these efforts are fueled by youth volunteers who actively participate in the tending, harvesting and preparing of fresh produce for local gardens. Youth and families interested in connecting with the Community Supported Garden projects should email live civilly at contact@livecivilly.org. Adults interested in becoming Garden Committee members should email as well! The live civilly Garden Committee will be in full swing this year!
Food that is collected through the Food For All effort is redistributed through three food pantries located in Moorestown. Families are welcomed into any of these pantries to receive assistance with food insecurity. Each month each pantry serves many families seeking not only nutritional assistance, but also educational assistance and life skills development opportunities.
For more information visit our website at www.livecivilly.org.
…PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE…