The holiday season in the Manchester Township School District (MTSD) is a time of year that brings out the school district's continued desire to support its surrounding community in special ways. Helping Hands for Hunger is a food drive initiative that strives to provide Thanksgiving meals confidentially to those Manchester school district families who need extra support during the holiday season. For the past 16 years, Helping Hands for Hunger, driven by the Manchester Township High School (MTHS) students and staff, has been a community-wide initiative where all of Manchester comes together in support of the cause.
The work that goes on behind the scenes by all of the MTSD staff, students, and families to prepare the over 100 Helping Hands for Hunger food baskets is months in the making. Students and staff are busy organizing basket needs and collecting donations of canned goods at each school. Community members and organizations have been providing support by sending generous gift card donations for the purchase of perishable food items that are included in the meal basket. Parent-donated eggs and oil, as well as staff donations of brownie mix and wrapping supplies, have made it possible for the MTHS students to obtain all of the ingredients needed to accomplish their goal of freshly baking over 625 brownies to be included in the Thanksgiving meal baskets!
When walking down the MTHS hallways over the next week, the smell of freshly baked brownies fills the hallways. Students in MTHS' Family & Consumer Science Class, led by Ms. Andrea Radowitz, have begun the brownie baking process. With a volume of over 625 brownies to be baked and packaged, they begin to do so after fall recess, flash freezing to ensure freshness upon their inclusion in the Helping Hands for Hunger baskets.
The MTHS students take pride in being able to provide freshly baked desserts for the Helping Hands for Hunger baskets. The culinary arts room is quiet as students are busy carefully making batch after batch of fresh brownies. They are learning not only the art of baking but also the lesson of giving back. They continue to express how grateful they were for the opportunity to put in the time and work so that the Helping Hands for Hunger baskets can include the extra special touch of brownies baked with love and care.
While the MTHS Food & Consumer Science students are busy baking and packaging brownies with love, the school district continues to need the community's help in this venture! In the past, community-donated gift cards have helped Helping Hands for Hunger to purchase perishable food items such as fresh fruits, vegetables, turkeys, eggs, and more so that the baskets can provide more than just a Thanksgiving meal to school district families in need.
Any Manchester resident, or community member/group, who would like to support the MTHS Helping Hands for Hunger initiative is asked to please bring gift card donations to Manchester Township High School, Attention Joseph Serratelli, at 1 Hawks Way. Or email dsilvestri@mtschools.org to arrange pickup. Donations are requested before this Friday November 15th to allow students and staff the time to shop ahead of basket assembly and distribution.
In the event you are looking for additional ways to provide support, the Burger 25 location in Toms River is generously supporting MTHS Helping Hands for Hunger fundraising efforts on Monday, November 18. Use Promo Code: GIVE and/or show the below flyer when ordering that day and 25% of sales will support Helping Hands for Hunger. Thank you Burger25 and all of our community for the continued support in making Helping Hands for Hunger a success!
