MIDDLEBORO — Middleboro faculty and staff started off the new year on the right foot. Among the briefcases, bins and portfolios they already carried in on convocation day, they found room on their forearms for grocery bags filled with food to donate. 

Through the Back to School Staff Food drive held Wednesday, Aug. 28, food donations were made to the Sacred Heart Food Pantry, operated by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Middleboro. 

Staff brought in approximately 30 bags of donated items, according to Outreach Counselor for Middleboro Public Schools Kalie Goodell. 

Four bins containing all sorts of requested food items, such as boxes of cereal, hamburger helper, condiments and salad dressings, were loaded up and transported to the pantry. 

Goodell was “pleased” with the turnout, especially given it’s the beginning of the school year and people aren’t checking their emails as much, she said. 

“It was nice to see people coming in with their laptops ready for the first day of school but also coming in with a bag to donate.” 

Goodell noted that the initiative received a positive response from faculty and staff because “this is a big community. When you come in on the first day, you’re mostly thinking of the students, but we’re also serving the community,” she said. 

Lacey Foley, who participated in the food drive and is the coordinator of alternative pathways at Middleboro High School, emphasized the meaning of giving back. 

“If you can do just a small thing… go into [your] pantry or add something extra to [your] grocery list that’s going to give back to the community, it’s a no brainer,” Foley said. 

David Cunningham, who serves as director of pantry services at the Sacred Heart Food Pantry, expressed his gratitude for the school’s contribution.

Cunningham estimates that the food pantry gives out 30,000 lbs of food each month to members of the community and so “every little bit helps,” he said.