“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . . .” That’s from the opening sentence in Charles Dickens’ 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, but it could just as easily apply to modern day Huntington.
While the economy is generally booming, many in the community are still struggling to feed themselves and their families. Don’t kid yourself; hunger continues to be a real issue for some folks right here in Huntington.
Teacher Anthony Troffa is
a student government faculty advisor.
As temperatures have plunged and snow has periodically fallen, food pantries have found their shelves increasingly bare. Enter Huntington High School student government members. The teenagers have initiated a winter collection of non-perishable goods to help those who need it most.
The student government’s Stuff the Bus community service campaign is ramping up. This marks the eighth year of the initiative, which seeks to collect as many non-perishable items as possible. At the end of the drive, the items are loaded onto a school bus donated for use by Huntington Coach Corp. The “stuffed bus” is then driven to local food pantries and unloaded.
Local residents shouldn’t be surprised to see students standing outside of supermarkets in the near future, said Fred Bisogno, who serves as the organization’s faculty advisor along with Anthony Troffa. The teenagers will ask shoppers to donate non-perishable items on their way out of the store.
“Once again we will be joined by the Interact Club and Young Leaders,” Mr. Bisogno said. “We have already secured four collection dates at King Kullen in Huntington. The dates are Saturday and Sunday, January 20-21 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both days. In February we will be back at King Kullen on February 3, which is the day before the Super Bowl so hopefully we will receive a ton of donations and February 10. Collection times will also be from 9-5. The kids always appreciate when the community comes out to support us at the supermarkets at makes standing in the frigid temperatures a little more bearable. We will hopefully be working with Stop and Shop as well for collections. Our local businesses have always been incredibly supportive.”
Teacher Fred Bisogno is
a student government faculty advisor.
The Stuff the Bus campaign will accept donations through March 16. Collection boxes are in the process of being placed in all eight school district buildings. The bus will be loaded on Saturday, March 17 and will make its way around town to food pantries, where the goods will be unloaded and shelves restocked.
“Student government has been hard at work planning for collections, categorizing donations and boxing them up,” Mr. Bisogno said. “Our goal is to make room 213 at the high school look like a warehouse as in years past.”
All the food collected during the Stuff the Bus drive will stay in the community. Those wishing to donate to the drive can also drop-off items at the reception desk inside the main entrance at Huntington High School.
“For two straight years now we have completely filled two full sized buses with donations for our local food banks and we are hoping to keep the streak going, especially with how tough this winter has been so far,” Mr. Bisogno said.
Contact Mr. Bisogno (fbisogno@hufsd.edu) or Mr. Troffa (atroffa@hufsd.edu) for more information or to get involved in the project.
