Students in the spirit of giving

Some students in Erin DiPerna’s second-grade class jumped at the chance to share what their favorite holiday foods are.

Palmer Bowen, 8, said she likes pumpkin pie the best. Classmate Natalie Branstetter was on the same dessert theme when she said she liked apple fritter the most. Spencer Faust and Theo Oppermann were more into dinner fixings, such as stuffing and turkey.

And for about three weeks, students at Gray’s Woods Elementary School have been collecting some of the same goodies they described.

DiPerna said it’s all for a schoolwide project her class helped spearhead this year to take collections and donate them to the Philipsburg food bank’s Holiday Meal Bag program.

Each class is assigned a different food to bring in.

DiPerna’s class brought in cranberry sauce. Other items on the list included pie crust, apple sauce, macaroni and cheese, stuffing, raviolis, gravy, sweet potatoes and more.

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the month, students from DiPerna’s class collect the goods, make a tally of everything received and organize them.

Students were also asked to each bring in $1. That money would also go to the food bank in Philipsburg to help buy turkey and ham for families.

“It just makes me really proud,” Palmer said. “I like bringing stuff in and knowing it helps people for Christmas.”

The goal each year is to collect enough food to provide 50 meals.

But the school generally averages enough to serve 65 meals, DiPerna said.

“It’s a whole school effort that goes beyond what we ask,” DiPerna said.

Final collection is next week. On Thursday, the goods will be brought to the Philipsburg Food Bank.

This story was originally published December 9, 2016 at 9:34 PM with the headline "Students in the spirit of giving."