PCD Students Feed Pantries [VIDEO]

A group of seven students from Providence Country Day School in East Providence this week completed a journey that started in the fields of Frerich's Farm over the summer with the planting of potatoes and squash — and concluded with a trip to the St. Vincent de Paul food kitchen at St. Mary of the Bay Church to stock the shelves with fresh food.

On Thursday, Dec. 20, the students spent their community service day helping We Share Hope, the Warren-based anti-hunger organization, to prepare the produce for distribution to food pantries around the state.

Jim McDougall, the group's vice president of acquisition, said the team of students joined 10 other volunteers to move 200,000 pounds of food from the farm to families in need.

Heading into the Christmas weekend, the agency was feverishly working to get the squash and potatoes out for distribution, said Jan Martin of We Share Hope's Farm Bureau — and there will still be lots left after the holiday to move.

"We're looking for food pantries in other parts of the state that are willing to come and pick it up," Martin explained. "Clearly, the farmers have been very, very generous — but we need help to move it out of the greenhouses where it's going to be utilized by people."

For more information, visit www.wesharehope.org or call the Warren office at (401) 289-0448 — and see the attached video for more.