One of Hackley’s main sayings is “Go forth and spread beauty and light”. The journey to fulfill that statement starts in Hackley, and many people in the community have worked hard to help others with the resources Hackley gives them.
Ms. DeMarchena, the Director of Community Engagement and Service Learning at Hackley, has worked with the coordinators of the Lower, Middle, and Upper schools to make sure everyone knows about food insecurity, and how they can help combat it. She and the coordinators run a food drive every year, partnering with the Community Food Bank of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow.
Ms. DeMarchena talked a little about why Hackley does their annual food drive: “We do that food drive very intentionally in mid-January to February because for most food pantries and food banks, there’s a drop in their donations after the holidays.”
The influx of food that banks usually receive in the early winter ends with the holiday season, leaving many seasonal workers, who are out of a job for the winter, to struggle to make ends meet. Last year’s food drive was a success, with the middle school and upper school combined raising around 983 pounds of food, while the lower school contributed around 1,198 cans of food.
While the food drive is important, many students learn about food insecurity earlier in the year, like a select group of middle school students are doing right now.
The middle school community service club is pursuing the angle of how much food Hackley students waste.
“So they (the students) can actually see, you know, we take the plates, we throw it away you know? And we throw away as much food as we feed people, like the numbers line up, which is crazy.” Ms. DeMarchena said, explaining how the middle schoolers are learning about food waste.
They’re also having a lunch bunch meeting on Friday, October 25 to pack bags of food, and on the following Monday are going to drive down to the Feeding Westchester headquarters to drop them off.
Feeding Westchester is the main food bank in Westchester County, with different branches stretching all over the country. Hackley partners with them to donate food, and spread awareness about the effects of food insecurity.
While partnering with Hackley, Feeding Westchester also has many of their own programs, like the Feeding United Home Delivery Program, where drivers from DoorDash deliver tote bags full of fresh produce, learning games, and toys directly to the people who need them. Feeding Westchester also has a Mobile Food Pantry, a giant refrigerated truck that drives through neighborhoods, delivering fresh food.
