Cony Fights Food Insecurity With Cereal Drive
12.7.2022
By: Ted Campbell
Students collected 2,130 boxes of cereal for the Augusta Food Bank—exceeding their goal and surpassing their total from last year.
Cereal is an expensive item for food banks to purchase. Maine ranks 12th in the nation for food insecurity and 1 in 5 children in Maine are food insecure, according to Jobs for Maine Graduates Specialist Shelly Couture.
“Cereal isn’t often donated to the food bank. It’s an expensive item for the foodbank to buy and it is critically needed,” said Couture.
The Augusta Food Bank has not needed to purchase cereal for two years because of the food drives and has been able to spend its money on other needed food items, according to a Facebook post.
The cereal drive was held in November by students in the Jobs for Maine Graduates program, a job skills class. This is the third year that the drive has been held. Last year, they raised more than 1,600 boxes of cereal.
The drive gives students an opportunity to focus on community service, said Couture.
“It allows students to give back to their community and provides them a platform to collectively do good and sharpen skills taught in the classroom,” Couture said.
The cereal drive was celebrated with a domino display in the auditorium. Boxes were arranged in rows and knocked over to applause.