The Wooster team rolled into the Daily Bread parking lot Monday morning with 192 turkeys to the delight of the pantry's coordinator. The food pantry is located at St. James Church in downtown Danbury.
The success of the turkey drive was created by the heart-warming collective efforts of families from throughout Wooster’s Upper, Middle, and Lower Schools as well as staff and faculty, alumni, and the board of trustees.
Starting at 7:30 a.m. turkeys came flying in at a steady pace. Upper School students Max Levine, Elizabeth Ashton, Gib Shea, Jess Oren, Jess Bauer, Julia Bauer, and Bethany Eason kept busy, shuttling turkeys and other donated food items from vehicles to the Wooster truck until 9 a.m. Many thanks to Noel Dominguez for his help loading the truck all morning.
Once the collection on campus was complete, the students, along with the Rev. Lingle, Ms. Najman, and Mr. Dominguez, made the delivery.
Upon their arrival, Daily Bread’s event coordinator Jill Shaw got the students involved in distributing the many items that made up the Thanksgiving bags that each guest received.
Senior Max Levine said he had never seen so many people in line for a Thanksgiving meal. Over 400 turkeys and meals were distributed over the morning.
Elizabeth Ashton was energized by the work of helping people get their bags to cars and home. “It is great to know that so many people will have a full thanksgiving feast who otherwise might go hungry,” she said.
Later in the morning, students were able to rotate into the pantry area to help restock shelves with new donations of canned vegetables, fruit, pasta, rice, beans, tomatoes and other staple items.
Shaw and her team expressed their gratitude for Wooster’s contributions and hands-on assistance with words and hugs as the team prepared to return to campus.
“You were a wonderful help! Come back next year!” was the refrain as the students headed out.
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