St. John's students form a food chain to join in the fight against hunger

One hundred thirty students and teachers formed a chain from St. John’s Catholic School in Brunswick to the nearby Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program on June 2, passing along, from hand-to-hand, 890 pounds of non-perishable food.

“I liked how everyone worked as a team, passing and sorting the food.  It was hard at the beginning, but we got used to it,” said Addie, a fifth grader.

“It was fun!  It was also nice knowing we helped many people in our community,” said Henry, a sixth grader.

Collecting non-perishable food was a yearlong service project for the "Saints," a class made up of fifth and sixth graders. The students led donation efforts and, during the food hand-off, helped sort the items.

“I thought it was really helpful that Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program had specific boxes for each type of food,” said Gus, a sixth grader.

“It was fun!  It felt good to say you needed a new box to fill with food,” said Gracen, a fifth grader.

Forming a food chain has been a tradition at St. John’s for nearly 20 years, and students and teachers were happy to see it return after a two-year absence due to the pandemic.

The event brought the total amount of food collected during the school year to 1,859 pounds.