The folks at Red Nose Day (RND) recently reached out to the Food Bank and asked us to speak to a classroom of third graders in Brentwood. They told us how Gabriel, a student at Krey Elementary, was the winner of their national contest challenging students to come up with ways they could help children living in poverty. He and his teacher, Mrs. Berry, won a trip to New York City to attend the RND televised special. When they returned, Lisa Sherrill, the Communications Director at the Food Bank, went to the school and gave the class an overview on how food banks operate and why they are needed.
Lisa shared with the class that 1 in 8 people living in Contra Costa and Solano counties turns to the Food Bank each month in order to get by. She helped the students count off in eights to give them a visual and better understanding of hunger’s magnitude. She also discussed ways they could get involved including by volunteering at a Family Food Sort or by donating food.
The students were quite excited to share the surprise they had waiting for Lisa! Together they walked to the class’ garden on a small corner of the campus and showered her with produce they had grown themselves. They generously donated 17 pounds of cabbage, lettuce, carrots, and broccoli to the Food Bank because they wanted to give it to people who don’t have enough healthy food to eat.
We are grateful for the food and inspired by the compassion shown by Gabriel, his hunger-fighting classmates, and their teacher who started the garden at the school!
