Northfield students form food brigade

NORTHFIELD — On a cold, breezy Tuesday afternoon, nearly 200 Northfield Elementary School students lined the sidewalk from the school to Dickinson Memorial Library. Each child swung enthusiastically back and forth, passing canned soup and cereal boxes hurriedly down the line.

For the third year in a row, the students participated in a three-week-long food drive to benefit the Northfield Food Pantry. To round out the food drive, the students worked together to deliver the food to the pantry, which is located in the basement of Dickinson Memorial Library, in a most unusual, but fun fashion.

“The idea of literally everybody being involved, passing the food literally from our school to the food pantry, it leaves an impression,” said Northfield Elementary School fourth-grade teacher Carolyn Baskowski.

Starting at around 1:30 p.m., the students took their positions in line, passing food for nearly an hour as Northfield Police Chief Robert Leighton directed traffic on Main Street. The students collected 484 items in all.

Baskowski and fellow fourth-grade teacher Nolan Kitfield started the food drive in 2014, with the fourth- and sixth-grade classes spearheading the project. Having seen a middle school in Keene, N.H., have its students pass the food to finish out the food drive, Baskowski and Kitfield knew they could implement something similar in Northfield.

The food drive is always done just before Thanksgiving, providing families in need with food for the holidays.

“That’s been part of the motivation,” Baskowski said.

Many of the Northfield students expressed their happiness to be donating to a good cause.

“Helping people will make the world a better place,” said 9-year-old Sadie MacDonald.

“It makes me feel like I’m helping someone,” said nine-year-year-old Juliette Potee. “It makes you feel warm and fuzzy.”