Dear Fifth
Grade Parents:

The theme of
this year's fifth grade community service project is FOOD. With the support of Sara and Ken, we have developed a fairly
comprehensive program for our fifth graders. There are three components to the
program: a school-wide food drive for the Newton Food Pantry, grocery store
solicitation, and planting produce. Following are the details:

 Food Drive

-         
Monday,
April 28^th
(first day back from break) a volunteer from the Newton Food Pantry will spend
about 15 minutes talking to the kids about the need for a food pantry in Newton and how the Newton
Food Pantry fulfills that need. Following the presentation, the kids will
create posters and fliers informing the rest of the school and their parents
about the Newton Food Pantry and the food drive. Posters will be put up around
school and fliers will be sent home in backpacks Friday, May 2^nd.

-         
The food
drive will begin Monday, May 5^th and last until Friday, May 30^th
- 4 weeks. All non-perishable food donations will be dropped off in a marked box
or bins in the front lobby of the school.

-         
Following
the completion of the food drive, we will need kid and parent volunteers to
transport donations to the food pantry (located in the basement of the Waban
library).

 Grocery Store Solicitation

-         
Saturday
May 10^th -
The Whole Foods store on Beacon
Street in Newton Highlands and the Newtonville
Shaws have agreed to allow the kids to set up tables outside their stores to
collect food donations for the Newton Food Pantry from shoppers. The Whole Foods
store has also offered to match shoppers' donations. Collection hours at the
Whole Foods store will be between the hours of 11 AM and 5 PM. Collection hours
at the Newtonville Shaws will be between the hours of 10 AM and 3 PM. Students
and parent supervisors are needed on Saturday May 10^th to staff the
tables for 1 - 2 hour time slots. A sign-up sheet for volunteers will be posted
outside the classrooms after vacation. Or you can contact Susan Haber (susanghaber@comcast.net)
or Stefanie Shull (chjudshull@aol.com)
to volunteer.

 Planting

-         
After
the kids have created signs and fliers on April 28^th, they will head
outdoors to plant two of the beds in the Ward School
garden. They will plant fast-growing, cool-weather produce such as lettuce,
peas and carrots, which are in demand at the Newton Food Pantry.

-         
Assuming
the weather cooperates, the kids will harvest the produce in mid-June. Again,
the food items will be brought to the Newton Food Pantry.

Please feel free
to contact the committee if you have any questions or are eager to volunteer.
Thanks in advance for your support for these projects!

Sincerely,

Renske
Braunstein, Anneke Dotan, Susan Haber, Nancy Israel, Sue
LeClaire, Stephanie Shull, and Lili Sloane