Staff members contribute nearly $1,700 to local food pantries

Kindergarten teacher Maureen Rossley (right) gives donations to representatives from local food pantries. Pictured to Maureen's left are: Dan Boyd from St. Therese's Food Pantry, as well as Joyce deVelder and Virginia Cornell from the Greater Schuylerville Food Pantry. Schuylerville teacher Heidi Kenyon-Smith, who helped with fundraising, is missing from the photo.

November 6, 2009

The financial challenges facing everyone today hits hardest those families who are frequenting local food banks. Schuylerville teachers and staff members, who normally respond daily to students’ immediate needs, decided to take action to help in a broader way.

Maureen Rossley (a veteran Schuylerville Elementary School teacher and former union officer) and Heidi Kenyon-Smith (a business teacher at Schuylerville Jr.-Sr. High School) initiated a check-writing campaign among district staff to give a much needed “shot in the arm” to St. Therese’s Food Pantry in Gansevoort and the Greater Schuylerville Pantry in Schuylerville. Both organizations serve the families of Schuylerville students.

Project Teachers Feed Minds and Bodies, a program from the New York State Teachers’ Union, partnered with school personnel to raise nearly $1,700 in just two weeks. This is an incredible accomplishment, Rossley and Smith point out, as every dollar contributed allows the food banks to purchase $10 to $20 worth of items. Both teachers hope this type of community action, supported by a caring school community, will inspire other local teachers’ unions and school staff members to add this activity to their already existing community service projects.