Story by Tom Markland
INWOOD — Students at Inwood Primary School demonstrated care for their community with their annual food drive, smashing the previous record for food items donated.
This year’s food drive was the 16th held by the school, donating to the local CCAP/Loaves and Fishes, which helps local families in need. The school, which consists of 170 pre-K through second-grade students, donated a total of 4,217 items, almost doubling the record of 2,207 items from 2022.
Dubbed the Show Your Love for Others Food Drive, the annual event celebrates Valentine’s Day to encourage students to show love for others. Each class competed to collect the most food items in hopes of winning a pizza party after the drive.
This year, Anna Hill-Dubbins’ first-grade class brought in a whopping 1,383 items for local families in need in Berkeley County. Brittany Eshbaugh’s kindergarten class came in second, with 1,152, more than double the food third place brought in.
“They enjoy helping others,” Hill-Dubbins said. “Each day, when they brought in their items, they were smiling.”
Janet Kawalek, the school’s secretary, started the food drive after the guidance counselor who ran the food drive in the fall left the school. Before she was a full-time secretary, Kawalek volunteered at CCAP/Loaves and Fishes.
“I’m just really amazed, for such a tiny school to have a turnout like this,” she said.
“We’re glad she does it,” Principal Ryan Ott said.
The food will be picked up by CCAP/Loaves and Fishes today to be distributed to families in need throughout the county.