National Campaign to End Hunger Kicks-off in Wrentham

Wrentham, MA (June 10, 2010) -- Schools Serve, The National School Food Drive program based in Wrentham, MA is launching nationwide in August with the aim of bringing America’s schools together around the hunger cause. The program kicked-off with an inaugural drive in its hometown last week. The local drive was the first of tens of thousands of similar drives taking place across the country during the 2010-11 school year.

Wrentham’s Roderick and Delaney schools teamed up to collect more than 6,000 pounds of food for the Wrentham Ecumenical Pantry. State Senator Richard Ross, Wrentham Schools Superintendent, Dr. Jeffrey J. Marsden, as well as Wrentham’s school principals and school committee representatives were on hand to mark the successful conclusion to Wrentham’s food drive and to launch the national effort.

"What better way to celebrate the movement than to see our hometown students involved and giving back to the community" says Tim Sullivan, founder of Schools Serve. "Hunger is such a key issue nationally, and schools and school families are so well positioned to play a big role as part of the solution."

The Roderick and Delaney results - one of the largest single donations received since the Wrentham pantry’s founding in 1987 -- will be added to the results of schools from around the country and celebrated publicly on the SchoolsFightHunger.org website. The goal is to raise more than 5 million pounds of food for local pantries in the next year alone.

Even before the recession hit, childhood hunger was a reality in every community, even those often considered affluent and without these types of concerns. By uniting schools across America, Schools Serve plans not only to help local food pantries but to inspire school children and school families on the value of service in our communities.

Catherine Marcin, director of the Wrentham Pantry Board, already sees that inspiration taking shape in her town: "It is wonderful to see the next generation so enthusiastic about helping those who are less fortunate. It is uplifting to have another generation to carry on the work that we are doing."

About Schools Serve

Schools Serve is the national non-profit behind the National School Food Drive, the largest coordinated food drive effort in the country. Beginning in August of 2010, tens of thousands of schools will unite to combat hunger in their communities with local food drives and hunger awareness efforts. Schools Fight Hunger is providing tools, know-how and resources for those drives and will be tracking and celebrating the combined achievements of participating schools across the country. All told, Schools Serve and America’s schools and school families will be collecting millions of pounds of food for local pantries in 2010-11 alone. For more information, visit Schools Serve on the web, on Facebook, or on Twitter.

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