Press Release

WARSAW — Edgewood Middle School students and staff are once again holding their annual food drive.

This has been an ongoing tradition for many years. Every year, they restock the shelves of Combined Community Services and Our Father’s House food banks before the holidays. In addition, they assemble family boxes that include items such as laundry detergent, milk, toothpaste, and everything in between. The family boxes are filled with food for the entire family, but especially for children who are home during the day alone while their parents are gone. These items include instant oatmeal, soup, peanut butter and jelly, and ramen noodles, just to name a few. Edgewood has provided hundreds of family boxes to families of Warsaw Community Schools’ students and employees over the years.

They also collect monetary donations to purchase items for the family boxes and to donate to the food banks so they are able to purchase the items they are still needing to fill their shelves. Last year, Edgewood students and staff were able to donate thousands of items and $2,000 each to CCS and Our Father’s House, as well as The Beaman Home received items to help stock their kitchen. Edgewood students and staff have been blessed to partner with Kerlin Bus Sales and a private donor for the past few years to help make these donations possible.

The Edgewood food drive exemplifies WCS’s mission statement to inspire students to enrich the lives of others. Many of WCS’s other departments also help out. Transportation helps with making deliveries and picking up perishables from the store; maintenance picks up, delivers and unloads bulk non-perishables; and the administration office collects items to donate to the cause.

Edgewood has also partnered with Kroger over the years. Without Kroger and its caring customers, Edgewood wouldn’t be able to help nearly as many people. Kroger’s stores allow students and faculty members to collect donations from their customers. This is a great learning experience for students who not only learn what a caring, giving community they live in, but they learn how great it feels to give back; they also learn that giving of their time is just as valuable, if not more son, than giving items and money. The entire school gets involved in one way or another. Many bring in items from home or by asking their neighbors, but many aren’t able to do that, so they help at school by sorting the items, assembling family boxes, moving the items to the various storage areas, loading the trucks, etc. It truly is a school-wide effort.

Those who would like to help Edgewood students and staff meet their goals this year can donate at Kroger from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10, and Saturday, Dec. 17. WCS will also accept donations at Edgewood from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. until Dec. 19.