NEWS RELEASE
February 6, 2018
For immediate release
Media contact: Cara Scarola Hansen, Marketing Director
561-345-3103
PHOTO ID:
001: Group of Rosarian Academy students and family members gleaning bell peppers in Delray Beach.
002: Incoming Head of School Linda Trethewey with group of Middle School students. (L-R): Liam Landers, Lily Guari, Sabrina Keough, Macarena Gonzalez, Mrs. Trethewey, Wilder Breckenridge, Bobby Brown, Stephen Hall, Eleanor Hall.
003: Rosarian Academy 7th graders (L-R) Lily Guari and Sabrina Keough
004: Rosarian Academy 7th grader Ava Iuliani
005: 7th grader Stephen Hall (Left) and 8th Grader Wilder Breckenridge
006: 006: 5th grader Isabelle Herlong helps Early Childhood student Mary Grace Hansen (2 years old)
Rosarian Academy Community Gleans 4,000 Pounds of Peppers to Prevent Food Waste and Help Feed the Local Hungry
The National Junior Honor Society at Rosarian Academy led the school community in a large-scale gleaning effort to provide food for those less fortunate in Palm Beach County on February 3. Seventy pre-school through 8th grade students and family members spent their Saturday morning in Delray Beach picking over 4,000 pounds of bell peppers that were delivered to the Palm Beach County Food Bank and then distributed to local agencies and shelters that feed the “food insecure” in our community.
For the last five years, Rosarian Academy has partnered with CROS Ministries, the event organizer, in participating in two gleaning events per year. According to a CROS Ministries volunteer, the organization picked 500,000 pounds of food in Palm Beach County last year alone; yet, the Palm Beach County Food Bank has calculated that 32 million pounds of food is needed to ensure that no one in our community goes hungry. Gleaning is so important because an estimated 54 million pounds of produce on farms are wasted every year. CROS Ministries works with local farmers to allow volunteers to glean, or pick, the crops that are left after the harvest which are perfectly edible but do not meet supermarket standards. Through this meaningful community service project, the students experience the power of making a positive difference in the lives of the needy in our community.
This service project was a strong end to Catholic Schools Week, January 28 – February 3, 2018. Catholic Schools Week is celebrated annually on a national level, the last week in January. Catholic schools observe the week with Masses, open houses, service projects and gatherings. Through these events, schools focus on the values of Catholic education.
“It is in helping to feed others that we ‘reverence life,’” said Rosarian NJHS moderator and teacher Patrick Hansen in a note he wrote to all who volunteered. He continued, “Thank you for helping us live our Adrian Dominican mission.”
Rosarian Academy, founded in 1925, educates students from early childhood through eighth grade and offers an exceptionally strong academic program enriched by athletics, visual and performing arts, and community service opportunities. The independent, Catholic school is located on Flagler Drive in downtown West Palm Beach and is sponsored by the Adrian Dominican Sisters. Bus service is available throughout Palm Beach County. For more information, visit www.rosarian.org or call 561.345.3106.
