Students collect food for the needy

bowens@theacorn.com


CHIPPING IN TO DO THEIR PART-Medea Creek Middle School's Manna food drive student committee (from left to right): Alexandra Pourzia, Jeff Pfeifer, Derek Green, Brandon Feldman, Michael Alexander and Olivia Pourzia. They're members of the California Junior Scholarship Federation.

CHIPPING IN TO DO THEIR PART-Medea Creek Middle School’s Manna food drive student committee (from left to right): Alexandra Pourzia, Jeff Pfeifer, Derek Green, Brandon Feldman, Michael Alexander and Olivia Pourzia. They’re members of the California Junior Scholarship Federation.

If you drive by Medea Creek Middle School in Oak Park on Friday mornings you’ll see a gaggle of enthusiastic students trying really hard to get your attention.


In fact, they’re out there every Friday from 7:40 to 8:10 a.m. on Doubletree Road, waving signs and helping the fight against hunger. The half hour is unabashedly spent soliciting food donations for Manna Conejo Valley Food Bank, regardless of the weather.


"We get our posters out, and I have a fake stop sign, and we’re waving the signs like crazy and asking parents to donate food," said 13-year-old Michael Alexander, an eighth-grader who’s been taking part in Medea Creek’s ongoing food drive since seventh grade.


Michael is one of about a dozen young scholars who participate. As members of the highly selective California Junior Scholarship Federation (CJSF), they’re expected to do 10 hours of community service per semester.


"They are energetic and spirited and they have owned this—they faithfully go out every week," said CJSF advisor Jean Martin, who also teaches seventh-grade humanities at the school.


A few people stop and ask what all the fuss is about.


"When they realize what’s going on, some say, ‘Next Friday for sure we’ll get you some food,’" Michael said.


Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t.


On a good day, the kids flashing their biggest and best smiles collect several bags or boxes of nonperishable foods. Other times, it’s just a can or two.


"I have never seen such apathy by such privileged people," said Martin, who grew up poor in Glasgow, Scotland before emigrating here in 1980. "Some people avert their faces when they see the signs.


"We are not beggars. We are simply asking people to help those who are less fortunate. Sometimes it feels like we’re hitting a brick wall. I have no idea why we’re not supported more."


Neither do the kids, but they are undaunted.


"I like doing this," Michael said. "It’s fun every Friday when I go out there. I feel really positive and I feel I’ve made a difference in somebody’s life."


Even though that somebody may not live in Oak Park. When asked if there are people who cannot afford to eat in Oak Park, Michael seemed puzzled.


"In Oak Park?" he asks. "I don’t think so."


But he knows that Manna helps a lot of people in the area, and Martin knows it, too.


"I have been there when people are asking for food and I leave with tears in my eyes," Martin said. "There is a dignity about those waiting to find out how much food they’ll get. They manage to reach within themselves and find that dignity even when they are asking for food.


"We live in the richest country in the world and people are hungry. What’s wrong here? Food is a basic need."


The nonprofit Manna Conejo Valley Food Bank is at 3020 Crescent Way in Thousand Oaks. It provides emergency food assistance to Conejo Valley residents who have proof of residency.


To qualify, recipients need a referral from Lutheran Social Services, Catholic Charities or a state social worker.




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