Sixth-grade students at Ss. Peter and Paul School in Collinsville collected 1,161 food items in its campaign “to stock the local food pantry with love,” as the students learn about stewardship in teacher Melissa Martin’s class.

COLLINSVILLE - Sixth grade is the year students at Ss Peter and Paul School focus on stewardship, and teacher Melissa Martin says her students have discovered the excitement of seeing their stewardship efforts help others.

After holding a winter coat drive for a local thrift store "the students got really excited about their success with the coat drive, where they collected almost 200 coats to help keep children warm," Martin said. They were wondering what stewardship project to do in January when they came up with the idea to "stock the local food pantry with love" just in time for Valentine's Day.

Their food drive started Jan. 15 and ended a month later on Feb. 13. Several days before it was to end, they had 743 items. "We got 400 more items by the next day, and ended up donating 1,161 items," Martin said. The students packed the items in suitcases and backpacks, and then walked two and a half blocks to the food pantry to deliver them in person.

"It was a very moving experience at the food pantry, because we got to see some of its customers," Martin said.

At a class reflection time the next morning, the students talked about the experience.

"Seeing the people at the food pantry really brought home to a lot of them the need that is out there. They discovered it is not just homeless and druggies, like some of them had heard, who seek help at a food pantry. It was eye opening for them to see a mother with a young child there," Martin said.

"They've learned donating food and giving charity is one step of Catholic social teaching. Now we need to work on the justice side."