‘As New Yorkers, it is our duty to look out for others’
By The Tablet Staff
PROSPECT HEIGHTS — The social justice lessons taught by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King were put into practice last week by St. Saviour Catholic Academy students, who conducted a food drive to help underprivileged people in Brooklyn.
Eight graders from the Park Slope academy’s Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice Committee spent time on Jan. 11 filling a van with 25 crates and large bags full of non-perishable food items to be donated to local food pantries.
The food items were collected and donated by students from all grades in the school and included canned goods, dried pasta and rice, dried fruit, crackers, granola bars and peanut butter.
Once loaded onto the truck, the items were delivered to: St. John The Baptist Food Bank (Bedford Stuyvesant/Williamsburg); The Food Distribution Center at Our Lady of Refuge Roman Catholic Church (Flatbush); Our Lady of Mercy Food Bank (Brownsville); and Food First, Inc. (Carroll Gardens/Red Hook).
“Our school has always run food drives and donated locally in Park Slope. This year, the academy’s Committee on Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice chose to donate to pantries reflective of the zip codes from which our students come from,” said Assistant Principal Sophia Sgro.
“As we approach the celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. — now a Day of Service for many in tribute to his life — this food pantry collection drive is a fitting example of what Dr. King wanted to see happening in our world,” said John Quaglione, deputy press secretary for the Diocese of Brooklyn.
Students who took part in the effort said they understand the importance of helping people in need.
“As New Yorkers, it is our duty to look out for others who do not have as much and start things like food drives. This way we can make sure that people who are struggling are able to put food on their tables,” said eighth-grader Ines McCoy.
Miles Butler, another eighth grade student, said the food donations will have an impact.
“This food pantry collection was very important because people should be able to forget some of their worries and get to relax because they have been helped to put food on their table,” he said.
