WASHINGTON TWP. - Long Valley families will not go hungry over the holidays thanks to the generosity and hard work of students at the Washington Township elementary schools and West Morris Central High School.
The Stuff the Bus initiative once again has helped replenish the Long Valley Interfaith Food Pantry, part of the Long Valley Community Assistance Program, just in time for the holiday season. Students from all the area schools engaged in collecting much needed food and hygiene items and bringing them to school during the past week. A school bus travelled to Cucinella, Flocktown-Kossmann, Old Farmer’s Road and Long Valley Middle School Friday, Nov. 3 to pick up supplies that were donated. Students, primarily from West Morris Central High School along with a few from the Long Valley Middle School, unloaded the bus, sorted the items and moved them into the food pantry which is located behind the Long Valley Presbyterian Church on Bartley Road Saturday, Nov. 4. It took 20 students about an hour and a half to move everything from the bus, sort it in the parking lot and move it to the pantry which has two rooms to put the food. “It might not be as much as other years. I guess people are having trouble because of the high cost of food,’’ said Carol Potts of the Long Valley Community Assistance Program. “We definitely need this because we’ve been running low over the (last) few months.’’
The Long Valley Community Assistance Program (LVCAP) is a 501©(3) organization led by a group of volunteers. Its Board of Trustees is composed of representatives from area churches and community members. The program provides both a food pantry and an emergency fund. The pantry serves 78 Long Valley families, a number that has been quietly increasing in recent years. Christa Smith, an eighth grade teacher who has also been a mainstay of the program, said the amount of supplies the schools take in varies from year to year. “It comes in waves,’’ Smith said. “It was a lot and then it died down and then it started picking up again. This year it seems to be back down.’’ Beans, tomato soup, coffee, pancake mix, macaroni and cheese and tuna were among the many items as well as hygiene staples soap, toothpaste and paper towels. Helping out the “Stuff the Bus’’ event is a tradition for some students. West Morris seniors Julia Campbell and Lena Lynch have been doing it since they were freshmen. They are part of West Morris’ Highlander for Humanity Club which has traditionally supported the program. When Campbell was donating the food for “Stuff the Bus” in grade school, she never thought she would be someone unloading the bus when she was in high school “It’s fun and it is good for the community to be able to get food for people who aren’t able to get it,’’ Campbell said. Lynch said she liked the idea of helping out in her community and joining with others that think the same way. “It’s nice to meet the eighth graders that will be doing it,’’ Lynch said. “We can teach them everything that we have learned.’’ Although most of the items that were donated were usable, there were some that were past their due date and had to be discarded. Junior Lucy Abbott even found an item or two that was older than she was. “I was just dealing with the beans, the variety of beans,’’ Abbott said. “I found a can of pinto beans from 2001.’’
Many of the students attended to add to their amount of community service hours. In order to apply to be accepted for the National Honor Society as a senior, students need 50 hours of community service including 10 of them through the school. Highlanders for Humanity gets students involved in local community events and are heavily involved in the upcoming WMC Memorial Turkey Trot 5K and the hanging of the holiday wreaths in parts of Long Valley after Thanksgiving which also benefits the LVCAP. “With Highlanders we do a lot of things that are really good for society,’’ West Morris junior Sofia Sardeira said. “I was surprised at the amount of food that we did. I feel like we had a really good amount of donations. “With Highlanders we do a lot of things that are really good for society. It’s nice that our school gives us the opportunity to be involved more. It’s a good club to be part of.’’ Donations can be dropped off at the food pantry on Thursdays from 9 to 11 am. The pantry is open to registered families on Mondays from 10 a.m. to noon and from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on every first and third Monday. More information can be found at lvcap.org.