Number of Participants: 3
Hours Donated: 15
Value of Time Served: $380
Event Amount Raised: $2,500
Event Type: Hunger
Sport: Football
Date: February 8, 2024
Location:
24 Providence Road
North Grafton, MA
USA
About:
As the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) Ambassador for Grafton High School, I reached out to Jessica Melo, GFB President, with a plan to support the Grafton Food Bank (GFB). I am is passionate about helping others with food insecurities and have been since I was 8 years old.
This was my multi-tiered plan:
First, I reached out to businesses in the community to partner with: Saver’s Bank, UniBank and Homefield Credit Union agreed to have bins placed at each of the banks for the public to drop off donations. I created signs explaining the project and gave a list of the most needed items.
I then partnered with my principal, Kevin Carney, to place bins at the front of the school commons and have students drop off non-perishables. I also had Mr. Carney also included the service project in his weekly updates to parents.
I also partnered with the Grafton Stop & Shop to collect nonperishables, gift cards and cash donations with the help of my football teammates on the morning of Saturday February 3.
Additionally, I designed reusable tote bags with the Grafton Gators and the Grafton Gazebo logos to sell with the proceeds going to the GFB. I chose B-Organics to create the bag to help a small local business that has donated to the school and because the owner Cathy DiPilato uses fruits and vegetables that would be thrown out for the ink, and is on a mission to rid food waste.
Lastly, I was kindly given a donation from a local event here in Grafton that my mom and Jodie Martin, owner of Jubilee Chocolates organized. In sum my fundraising efforts added to a grand total of a $1,000 check, gift cards, and over 300 items including cereal, oatmeal, coffee, peanut butter, soup, juice and more.
