Local School Donates 23,790 Food Items to Pantry

Pinecrest Academy's annual canned food drive, Stuff the Truck, benefits the St. Joseph’s Food Pantry at St. Brendan Catholic Church. Pinecrest broke its own food drive record of 13,318 items in 2021, with contributions this year totaling 23,790 items.

The school has supported the St. Joseph’s Pantry for eight years. This local shelter currently helps 2,900 registered families from all over Forsyth County each year. The pantry serves 45 to 55 families each week. In addition to groceries, they distribute fresh fruit and vegetables, frozen meat, bread, desserts, diapers, cleaning supplies, paper goods and personal care items. Said Barbara Gordon, the St. Joseph’s Food Pantry Coordinator, “The good families at Pinecrest Academy have filled our pantry shelves to overflowing! Pinecrest’s drive comes at a time when our inventory is exceptionally low. We always have concerns about how we will continue to serve our families. Food donations from Pinecrest allow us to be very generous, particularly at our Christmas Food Market.”

“Educating our students on the importance of loving and serving others is an essential part of our curriculum, and this annual food drive puts this teaching into practice,” said Jake Rodgers, Pinecrest Academy Head of School. “Not only did students rally to bring in food items so that others could have a warm meal on their tables for Thanksgiving, high school students were part of the delivery team, loading a truck and making several trips to St. Brendan to unload items into the pantry,” he continued. “As we are in the midst of our 30th Anniversary, this act of generosity is foundational to our 30-year mission of forming Christian leaders who will transform society. I am personally touched by what our Pinecrest community accomplished on behalf of local neighbors in need.”

Pinecrest students went above and beyond in donation efforts. A family of eight donated several hundred food items, a brother and sister pulled a wagon around their neighborhood collecting donations, a Pinecrest mother took up a collection at her workplace, then purchased and donated almost 280 cans, and another mom organized a food drive at work and brought in over 1,200 items. Students from PreK3 through 12th grade got creative in their donation efforts. The high school called their drive “Tins for Tarpley,” named after beloved, long-time teacher and former principal, Dr. John Tarpley. Donations soared after this initiative launched.

The educational model at the private PreK3-12 Catholic School is based on four pillars, one of them being "apostolic formation," which is quite simply generosity of self to Christ. The school strives to cultivate compassion and servant leadership through service and mission. The annual food drive allows entire families to realize this important calling and to put it into action.