JF&CS Food Pantry Thanks Ladue Schools for Helping 'Fill the Bus'

The Ladue School District made a significant contribution to Jewish Family & Children’s Service (JF&CS) for the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry (HKJFP) through its fourth consecutive “Fill the Bus” campaign. For this project, students, parents, and faculty packed a school bus full of canned and non-perishable food items collected for the HKJFP and the St. Patrick Center for the homeless.

This year’s contribution totaled to a whopping 6,349 canned goods from the entire district, almost doubling the contributions from last year’s campaign. In addition to this, there was also a very generous individual donation of nearly 5,000 packaged foods. Representatives from the district’s Character Education Committee coordinated “Fill the Bus” for all schools in the district.

Collections began March 5 and ended March 14. Students and teachers brought canned goods to school, and for the first time parents were also encouraged to participate in this campaign by bringing canned goods to parent-teacher conferences.

On the final day of the food drive, a school bus traveled to each school to collect donations. While some students loaded the bus, others gathered outside to watch while cheering, “Fill That Bus!”

“Fill the Bus” provides an important boost to HKJFP during the post-holiday season. While many are generous with their contributions around Thanksgiving and Christmas, donations are usually needed again around March and the rest of the less active spring and summer months when most of the food supplies have been depleted.

Donations are even more important now since more and more families are turning to food pantries for support – and none are turned away. The HKJFP ends up serving between 5,000-6,000 people each month.

“This district-wide initiative is very important in that it connects the grade schools to the high schools,” said Roger Scherck, teacher sponsor. “It not only unites all of the schools in the district around a good cause, but it also builds strong community service ideals within the students”

Louis Albert, executive director at Jewish Family & Children’s Service (JF&CS), commends the Ladue School District for its generosity, saying, “We are incredibly grateful for how the Ladue schoolchildren, parents, employees, and directors go above and beyond expectation every year. These are the acts of kindness that sustain our food pantry year-round. It is truly heartwarming to see.”

For generations, JF&CS has offered compassionate support and practical solutions to guide people through life’s ups and downs. Added in 1991 and celebrating its 20th year, the food pantry (now the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food Pantry), a major program for JF&CS, was established to serve clients living in surrounding zip codes.

Today, 22 JF&CS programs serve clients from more than 110 different zip codes throughout the greater St. Louis area. JF&CS is a proud member of the United Way and the Jewish Federation; and receives major funding from the St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund.

For more information about Jewish Family & Children’s Service, please call 314-993-1000, or visit www.jfcs-stl.org.