NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The National Day of Service and Remembrance has passed, but the good deed that one class at Isaac E. Young Middle School has taken on is far from over.
The students in Mary Monteleone’s 8th-grade English class started a food drive first by collecting extra canned goods from their homes. By mid-week, several had taken their lunch period to create food drive signs with colored markers to hang in the hallways.
“For them to give up their lunch to make the posters is a nice gesture,” Monteleone said.
The students will continue the food drive through the end of September, with the donations being delivered to the Food Pantry at Hope Community Services in New Rochelle.
“We wanted to do something nice for the community,” said Daniel Ortiz.
When September 11 comes up each year, Monteleone’s class takes up goodwill projects as part of the National Day of Service and Remembrance established by Congress on Sept. 11, 2009. In this case, Monteleone’s class is making it three weeks of service.
Some of the students do other community service projects as well. And some, like Diego Zarraga, may continue helping when the food drive is over.
“People like my mom tell me I should keep doing stuff like this,” he said.