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Schools

Notre Dame Elementary Students Organize Food Drive

NDE donates to St. Vincent de Paul Society.

Mrs. Suess' fifth grade class at had other thoughts besides trick or treating this past Halloween. They were thinking about how much food they donated to the St. Vincent de Paul Society. 

The "Trick or Treat So All Can Eat" food drive and friendly competition at the elementary school that ended Oct. 29 brought in 2,162 pounds of food, according to Sara Maennle, fifth grade assistant teacher at NDE. 

The annual drive calls for children grades first through eighth to donate canned goods and non-perishable items from granola bars to fruit cups to aid the St. Vincent's in South San Francisco and San Mateo. 

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Vanessa Suess' class of 21 students organized the event themselves, a tradition of the school. Along with tradition, the class won, with the eighth grade trailing behind in a close second place. 

Winners were determined by weight of the food they brought in. First place received a pizza party and free dress passes (as the private school has uniforms), although the fifth-graders decided to share these prizes with the eighth grade. 

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But this wasn't all about who got bragging rights. Jodie Penner, the school's development associate, said Notre Dame Elementary values teaching its students about the importance of giving. 

"Even at the young age in elementary school, this is an easy way for [the students] to get to know that they are people in need," said Penner. "This fits into our component of community service: to nurture and educate the whole child, not just academically, and get them ready for the real world." 

Maennle said the students learned many lessons from the drive. 

"We talk about not wasting food and being genuinely appreciative of what we have," she said. "Seeing the hundreds of cans collected in the classroom and hallways makes them very proud to know that they have made a difference to our community." 

Penner spoke of her own son in the fourth grade at NDE who incorporated the food drive even on the playground. 

"He told me that he and his friends were even saving their snacks during recess to put into the food drive," she said. 

One may think of the typical food drive to occur during the Thanksgiving holiday, among the checkout counters at grocery stores. But Penner said the school does it during Halloween to aid St. Vincent in donations. 

"There are so many drives during that time. This gives them an opportunity to fill in their cupboards for the food bank . . . in fall they need stuff too," she said. 

Two trucks were needed this year to pick up the donations which were distributed to the Homeless Help Center's of St. Vincent de Paul on Oct. 28 and 29.

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