An anonymous donor matched what the Notre Dame middle-school students and faculty raised yesterday for PHEED (People Helping Everyone Eat Daily), a non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating hunger through food-rescue programs, making ND Marist's community read day an even bigger success.
Students, faculty and staff of NDMA raised $250, primarily from money donated as a result of wearing jeans and spirit wear for the March 25 community read day. At the end of the day, an anonymous donor in the NDPMA community decided to match that $250, bringing the day's total to $500, which is going directly to PHEED.
PHEED played a big role in the day's activities as Notre Dame's 6th through 8th graders were able to collectively Skype from the school's gymnasium with one of PHEED's founders, Joel Baetens, about the program (see short video below from the Skype session). A number of other speakers, activities and events related to the topics of hunger, health and nutrition also were part of what has become an annual event for the middle division.
"In preparation for this special day, everyone in the middle school community had been reading a book called Seedfolks," IB coordinator and member of the community read day committee Brenda Kambakhsh said. "The book tells the story of how a group of Cleveland neighbors come together through an urban garden, due to the efforts of a nine-year-old Vietnamese girl. It is a wonderful story about how a garden, and ultimately the food it produces, transforms a neighborhood."
One of the other main activities yesterday was for students to consider what people around the world eat. The kids conducted a scavenger hunt using posters from a book titled: The Hungry Planet: What the World Eats, which include family photographs and statistics of what is eaten during one week in several different countries.
Another activity included filling a van from Gleaners Food Bank that was parked in the school's parking lot. The community read day committee expected to fill it with more than 1,000 pounds of food for the hungry in the local community.
"We are very excited about engaging students in the topics of food distribution, health, nutrition, gardening and hunger," Kambakhsh added. "We are also anxious to move beyond classroom learning to action by planting seedlings, making food donations, and whatever else might be generated by the students themselves. Our aim is to continue our teaching of what it means to be part of a community and to live up to our school mission: 'Christian person, upright citizen, academic scholar' as well as striving to live the traits of the International Baccalaureate Learner Profile."
About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.