Kresson School hosted its fifth annual Adopt-a-Family event on Tuesday, Nov. 20. Students carted boxes from each classroom to the cafeteria where parents made sure all items on the list were included.
Jennifer Payne, a parent and co-chair of Adopt-a-Family was standing close to the stage checking off items on a list while other parent volunteers sorted, counted and packed items into boxes.
Kresson hosts Adopt-a-Family every year. The food collected at the drive goes to needy families in the Camden County area.
Eighteen meals were made for the Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS), Payne said.
Payne said each student was given a checklist of items to bring home to their parents.
Canned vegetables, cranberry sauce, turkey gravy, packaged stuffing and pancake mix were a few of the non-perishable items on the list.
Perishable items, such as turkeys, pies and butter were also on the list for each classroom.
Payne said non-perishable items were brought in on Monday, Nov. 19, while perishable items were dropped off on Tuesday. DYFS employees picked up the meals before delivering them to each caseworker in Camden County, who deliver them to needy families.
“We have been working with DYFS for five years,” Payne said.
Adopt-a-Family had made meals for other organizations and residents before working with DYFS. For about 25 years, Kresson participated in creating Thanksgiving meals, Payne said.
“[The secretaries] said it started in the late ‘80s,” she said.
Adopt-a-Family chairwoman Cindy Kahn said sending the supplies to make the Thanksgiving meal will allow each family to experience a part of the holiday cooking tradition.
“It allows the family to [cook] as a unit and have the joy of actually being able to cook [the meal] and smell it cooking in their house,” she said.
It’s better to “prepare the meal as a family,” Kahn said.
About 25 parents were in the cafeteria, Payne said.
“They go through the boxes and make sure everything is there,” she said.
Extra items were placed on a cart. If any items were missing from a box, that item would be pulled from the cart or purchased at a store.
In past years, Adopt-a-Family would create additional meals with left over items. Payne said DYFS preferred to have more turkeys considering many families were without turkeys.
“So in addition to 18 complete meals, we also gave eight turkeys and all the leftover produce and non-perishable items,” Payne said.
Fresh produce was also a part of the meals, but parents did not have to bring those items into the school.
Michelle DiCrecchio and her husband, Sonny, donated fresh produce for the past seven years. Their granddaughter attended Kresson School and is now in seventh grade at Voorhees Middle School, Michelle said.
Sonny owns Perfect Fresh Produce in Philadelphia. Depending on how many classrooms are participating, they donate 15 to 20 cases each year.
“If more people see somebody else doing it, it gives somebody else the initiative to go out and [help],” she said.
Payne said the food drive’s intent goes beyond aiding families in need.
“We want the families and we want the children in the school to understand how important it is to give back to those around them. Our kids are living nice lives, but it’s important to know that not everybody does,” Payne said.
