35 Families Receive Thanksgiving Food After Seaford School District Drive

SEAFORD, NY. — Seaford students banded together for the district’s annual food drive this month, compiling enough nonperishable food to feed 30 families on Thanksgiving and provide five more families with additional donated food.

Food was collected over a three-week period at Seaford Harbor Elementary and Seaford Middle School, with students and staff dropping off canned goods, cereal, desserts, gravy, pasta, sauce, soup and stuffing. High school students donated money, which was used to purchase a total of roughly $2,000 in supermarket gift cards and fresh food, including cider, fruit and pies. The drive was organized under the direction of advisors Tania Cintorino and Savannah Weilert.

Food donations were sorted Friday afternoon by high school student council members, who created food packages for each family. Student council members were also tasked with visiting businesses around Seaford in pursuit of gift card donations.

“This is important,” Student Council Treasurer Sophia Molinaro said, “because not a lot of people realize the struggles that others are going through. Helping with the food drive feels very rewarding because you know you’re doing something good at the end of the day.”

Cintorino said the families who will benefit from the donations are anonymous to the students, and identified by district officials. In addition to the 30 families receiving a full donation, five additional families will be receiving smaller donation packages.

For Student Council Vice President Cameron Calderaro, the Friday food sorting provided a chance to reflect on the outpouring of community support, both within the district and without, that the food drive had received.

“We’re very thankful that our community is so giving,” Calderaro said.