Green Woods students help stock North Light’s food pantry for the holidays

Fourteen students from the recently relocated Green Woods Charter School spent Thursday afternoon sorting through thousands of non-perishable items at North Light Community Center. 

The group, which consisted of seventh and eighth grade students from the school’s Student Leadership team, unpacked and labeled the more than 2,300 items donated by the school in a recent food drive.

Steven Masterson, Green Woods’ Dean of Faculty and Students, said the food drive was created last year as a way to raise hunger awareness and give back to the school’s surrounding community. 

“We thought it was important to have our school, being new to this neighborhood, give to the same neighborhood and try to create a relationship nearby,” said Masterson.

Stephen Walsh, North Light’s food cupboard coordinator, estimated that the donated food will help feed the cupboard’s 30 recipients for at least three weeks.

Seventh grade student Ben Gongon, who designated himself as the “beans guy”, said he was really impressed by the school’s ability to raise so much food when their initial goal was to collect 850 items.

“It was hard carrying all the cans, but it’s for a good cause so I guess I can suck it up for a couple of hours,” said seventh grade student Jessica Craighead. 

The students will also be handing out food at the North Light cupboard on Monday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.  Last year, the school donated food to an annual drive at Germantown Friends School but Masterson said he really wanted the students to be part of the donation process this year. 

As a reward for successfully completing the drive, the students earned a dress down day. Students in the first grade class who brought in 326 items get a pizza party and students on the upper class campus will have the opportunity to play a basketball game against faculty members. 

For more information on North Light Community Center, go to northlightcommunitycenter.org.