CFA Gets 400-Bag Donation from Mahwah Kids

The Center for Food Action is 400 bags of food fuller and has $3,000 more to spend on food for local needy families thanks to a group of Mahwah fifth graders.

In order for the members of Junior Girl Scout Troop 1427 to earn their Bronze Award, they needed to choose a community service project to work on together. The girls say donating time to collect money and groceries outside local supermarkets was an easy choice.

“We all thought it was a great way to help out the less fortunate in our community,” one troop member said.

“We were all surprised to see how many people wanted to donate to the CFA,” another added. “It made us feel really proud of ourselves to know that we helped so many people.”

Troop Leaders Kim Nelson and Lynn Paruszek said they were even surprised at the community’s strong reaction to the fundraiser.

“We were almost unprepared for how many donations we got,” Nelson said of the drive, which the troop ran on various dates throughout February and March. “We ran out of cars to put all of the food in. But, we managed to get it all to the CFA. They are always very grateful for donations.”

According to the CFA’s website, its workload is only increasing.

In 2012, the Center for Food Action gave out 67,442 food packages to local families, as compared with 61,106 in 2011.

Last year, the CFA distributed 2,407 seven-day food packages to Mahwah families.

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