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<p>EXETER &#8212; There were hundreds of pounds of carrots, a crate full of pears, and even whole chickens and half-gallons of milk. It was, Wyoming Area Secondary Center Principal Jon Pollard estimated, enough food to provide about $150 worth of groceries to more than 100 families, except on Tuesday it was free to any comers.</p><p>&#8220;We don&#8217;t have any income guidelines,&#8221; Pollard said shortly before neighboring residents started walking into the school cafeteria for what was just the second of monthly food distributions the district has organized in conjunction with the Commission on Economic Opportunity and the Weinberg Northeast Regional Food Bank.</p><p>The food bank brings the goods, both perishable and nonperishable, by the skid load, and the district lines up adult and student volunteers to help set the food out, creating a line of tables stacked with nutrition bars, Cocoa Puffs, prunes, and fresh produce that, this month, included large heads of cabbage and 50-pound bags of carrots.</p><p>&#8220;We have it set up as sort of a little grocery store,&#8221; Pollard&#8217;s wife Lisa said as she showed how residents come in one door, sign in, and walk along one side of the tables, student volunteers tagging along to help carry bags as they filled them if needed. At the end of the table, items from the school&#8217;s clothes closet hang on mobile racks for the taking. The &#8220;shopper&#8221; then walks the other side of the tables to a different door, with milk, paper towels and napkins available.</p><p>&#8220;Basically we&#8217;re doing a holiday distribution,&#8221; Lisa said, &#8220;but in two hours,&#8221; adding that she and her husband have been involved in such &#8220;mobile food pantries&#8221; elsewhere in the district for years, so it was a natural step to try to set one up at the secondary center after her husband was appointed principal.</p><p>What do the students get out of it? For many, working in the program counts toward service hours required by different clubs, Pollard said. But there&#8217;s also the feeling you are doing something good.</p><p>After eighth grader Kaylee Ide and 10th grader Mia Jones stuffed and toted bags for a particularly appreciative elderly woman, Mia conceded the service hours mattered but added, &#8220;I want to help the community.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Kaylee Ide, an eighth grader, and Mia Jones, a 10th gradeer help bag groceries at the CEO food pantry at Wyoming Area. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_TTL101619food2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Kaylee Ide, an eighth grader, and Mia Jones, a 10th gradeer help bag groceries at the CEO food pantry at Wyoming Area. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_TTL101619food1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Trudy McAndrew, a math teacher; Kaylee Ide, an eighth grader; and Mia Jones, a 10th grader,help bag groceries at the CEO food pantry inside Wyoming Area. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_TTL101619food1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Trudy McAndrew, a math teacher; Kaylee Ide, an eighth grader; and Mia Jones, a 10th grader,help bag groceries at the CEO food pantry inside Wyoming Area. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Wyoming Area students help with new community food distribution program