News and Media
Fourth Graders on a Mission: Helping Hands and Full Hearts at the Local Food Pantry!
With food donations in hand, Peck fourth graders travel in small groups for hands-on volunteerism at the Interfaith Food Pantry (IFP) in Morris Plains. The trips span the entirety of the school year, ensuring each student gets at least one visit to IFP, which is also the grade’s service learning partner.
The fourth grade also holds two major drives for the IFP per year, during times when demand is at its highest: near Thanksgiving, and right before school lets out for the summer. The small-group trips allow students to see firsthand how the organization runs and operates daily.
“Trips to the Interfaith Food Pantry help broaden a fourth grader’s perspective on community, the resources that are available within it, and how they too can get involved and practice consideration of others in the greater community,” says Fourth Grade Homeroom Teacher Chelsey Carr.
Upon arrival, students are greeted by a volunteer who takes them to complete their first order of business—weighing the donations they brought, which is a crucial piece of keeping accurate records of food pantry inventory.
Volunteers then give students a full tour of the facilities including the warehouse where food is stored, the kitchen where they offer cooking classes, and the market where those in need come and pick out their food. Along the way, students are taught about what it means to be food insecure and how the IFP serves those in need.
To close out the trip, fourth graders are tasked with a service project to lend a helping hand. For example, a recent visit had a fourth-grade small group packing bags of tea to be put on the market shelves.
“It’s really important for people to help others. My friends and I had fun learning about the pantry, and I liked being able to help with the food. My whole day was a good day because we went there!” said fourth-grader Sofia C. '28.
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“Trips to the Interfaith Food Pantry help broaden a fourth grader’s perspective on community, the resources that are available within it, and how they too can get involved and practice consideration of others in the greater community,” says Fourth Grade Homeroom Teacher Chelsey Carr.
Upon arrival, students are greeted by a volunteer who takes them to complete their first order of business—weighing the donations they brought, which is a crucial piece of keeping accurate records of food pantry inventory.
Volunteers then give students a full tour of the facilities including the warehouse where food is stored, the kitchen where they offer cooking classes, and the market where those in need come and pick out their food. Along the way, students are taught about what it means to be food insecure and how the IFP serves those in need.
To close out the trip, fourth graders are tasked with a service project to lend a helping hand. For example, a recent visit had a fourth-grade small group packing bags of tea to be put on the market shelves.
“It’s really important for people to help others. My friends and I had fun learning about the pantry, and I liked being able to help with the food. My whole day was a good day because we went there!” said fourth-grader Sofia C. '28.
THE PECK SCHOOL
247 South Street | Morristown, NJ 07960973-539-8660
Northern New Jersey's timeless and transformative co-ed independent elementary and middle school education for grades K-8.
The Peck School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.