Windsor Hill's PJ's for Pantry helps those in need

Fifth graders like Raymond Cimino, Jacob Damiano and Jason Pincince are learning much more than the ABC’s at Winsor Hill Elementary School.

Those students, as well as all Winsor Wizards, are taking a course that has many different sides and could be entitled “Lessons in Life!”

The three pre-teens are learning how important it is to help people in need as Principal Michele Zarcaro and Special Education Teacher Dina Needham will attest – by helping to put food on the tables of families in need.

Last Friday, Winsor Hill held a school-wide initiative – PJ’s for Pantry – as students and faculty came to school dressed in their favorite pajamas and carrying backpacks that were filled with non-perishable food items.

In all, the project – which was coordinated by children in grades 3 to 5 who make up the Winsor Hill Student Council – brought in over 400 food items that Needham said “really boosted the stock in our food pantry.”

“The Winsor Hill Food Pantry feeds needy families in our school community,” said Needham as she looked at the overwhelming supply of canned goods and other items that filled a large portion of her classroom. “This isn’t just a one-time thing; we feed families from this pantry on a weekly basis.”

As she described the on-going efforts of Winsor Hill students, Needham wanted it known that students like Cimino, Damiano, Pincine and Trinity Blondin are “really passionate about collecting non-perishable food items for our pantry.”

There’s yet another side to the Winsor Hill Elementary School Food Pantry initiative, which centers on Needham actually delivering baskets or boxes of food to families that do not have transportation.

“See this pile,” Needham said while pointing to a huge box that was almost overflowing with non-perishable foods, “I have a family coming to school shortly to pick this up. The other two (food boxes) … I’m going to deliver them at the end of school today.”

Needham also explained that “we feed at least five to seven families a week out of our food pantry and for that, we are all thankful.”

She also emphasized that Winsor Hill Elementary School is able to uphold such programs due to the support of the students and parents who continue to donate to keep our pantry filled to capacity.

Yet another reason for last Friday’s PJ’s for Pantry project was that school is on winter recess and the group wanted to make sure families in need would have enough food to get their families through the week without going hungry.