Middle School Recognized For 'Selfless' Service Amid Pandemic

CHELMSFORD, MA — The Chelmsford Rotary Club honored McCarthy Middle School staff and students for their efforts to help those in need with a food drive this year.

Former Chelmsford High School Principal and Current president of the club Allen Thomas, and Debbie Haywood, a former special education teacher presented the Charles and Carla Keen "Service Above Self" Award to the school for its annual Project 300 food drive.

Project 300, a Thanksgiving food drive initiative to benefit Merrimack Valley residents in need is in its 44th year and opened at the beginning of last week. Though the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the effort, the McCarthy Middle School community collected about 8,000 non-perishable items on Nov. 20 alone, prompting Gallagher and staff to extend Project 300 into Monday, Nov. 23.

"To take on this year with all of the challenges, different schedules and so forth, it’s just great to see that it’s staying," Thomas, who co-founded Project 300 in 1976, said in a news release. "It’s really important in a downtime like this to keep it going because if you stop for a year, you lose the momentum. I think what they’ve done this year is particularly important."

The school had hoped to collect about half of the 30,000 items it usually collects for the Salvation Army of Lowell, which distributes them to area food banks and pantries.

"We had 8,000 cans come in ... all on one day, which is just amazing," Gallagher said in a release.

Non-perishable food items will be accepted at the front and back entrances of the McCarthy Middle School through the end of Monday.

Thomas Gallagher, a seventh and eighth grade mathematics teacher, along with English teacher Dana Courtney, science teacher Katie Hill and history teacher Eric Sullivan, accepted the honor in the lobby of the McCarthy Middle School.

Previously: McCarthy Middle School Begins Annual Food Drive