Willow Students Help Harvest 700 Pounds of Kale, Feed Hungry

Student and parent volunteers from The Willow School in Gladstone joined helpers at America's Grow-a-Row in Pittstown on September 3 to harvest food for the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. In just two hours, Willow volunteers helped harvest 700 pounds of kale. That’s 2,800 servings of fresh food that will help local families in need.

Willow students care about food insecurity in their community. Last year, Willow volunteers worked with America's Grow-a-Row to help pick 1,400 pounds worth of apples at Riamede Farm in Chester, enough for 5,600 servings. Two years ago, fourth graders led a school-wide food drive, collecting over 1,200 items to feed 30 families over the Thanksgiving holiday.

“We are so proud of our students who are really working to make a difference,” said Willow’s Head of School, Francisco Ayala. "We want our students to feel empowered to create a better world, which is why service learning and virtues are deeply embedded into our academic program, from preschool to Grade 8."

America’s Grow-a-Row’s mission is to positively impact as many lives as possible through a volunteer effort of planting, picking, rescuing, and delivering free fresh produce. Find out more at americasgrowarow.org.

Find out more about The Willow School at willowschool.org.