Schools collecting donations for cereal box dominoes

The Bag Brigade will give the boxes to students as part of their summer food distribution.

Children are often told to not play with their food, but an exception will be made this week for Belle Vernon Area elementary students.

On Thursday and Friday, students at Rostraver and Marion elementary schools will line the halls to cheer on cereal boxes as they fall, hopefully without breaking the chain.

The domino fall, in its fifth year, is an exciting event for students, and it’s even made sweeter by the greater purpose it serves.

After this week’s fun, the boxes will be passed out to students over the summer by the Bag Brigade and its dedicated group of volunteers.

The organization is run by volunteers in the district to supply nonperishable breakfast and lunch foods, fruit and snacks for students.

It was started nine years ago by Kathy Kelly and Ashlee Eisengart as a ministry through Gospel Alliance Church after seeing a need at Marion Elementary School.

The program took off and has grown to help more than 250 students who receive snacks and other food items to take home each weekend.

Students and staff, with help from the community, have collected fullsize cereal boxes that will be set up in both elementary schools this week.

The drop will be held at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at Rostraver, and at 9:30 a.m. Friday at Marion.

The domino fall has been a fun way for students to get involved, and for the Bag Brigade to collect full-size cereal boxes that will help students during the summer months when the program is not supported by a food bank.

The large cereal boxes come in handy when school is not in session, Kelly said.

Last year, thousands of boxes were collected and used for the district’s weekend food program.

Organizers set a goal of 5,000 for this year, but donations have been coming in slower than normal.

Boxes of cereal are being collected at BeeGraphix in Belle Vernon, Bill’s Golfland in Rostraver Township and at the Bag Brigade Hub, also in Rostraver Township.

Guttman Energy has also been collecting boxes of cereal from its staff and will bring them to the elementary schools this week ahead of the event.

Cereal donations can also be dropped off at each elementary school before Thursday.

“Collections aren’t going as well as we hoped they would, but that’s OK,” Kelly said. “We’re not sure where we are at right now as far as a count, and we were hoping for 5,000, but we will be thankful for whatever we can collect.

“It’s just fun for the kids especially. The more boxes we get the longer we can make the chain. So the more boxes we have the more exciting it is for them.”

Students know the event is coming when cereal boxes start piling up.

“I was at the school dropping off boxes the other day and some of the younger students saw and just started jumping and giggling,” Kelly said. “So they know it’s coming and they are excited.”

More than just creating a fun memory, the boxes help the Bag Brigade during the summer by supplying each student it serves with a full-size box of cereal. Some might not get breakfast or lunch like they do when school is in session.

“If you figure every kid gets a box all summer long, you have 250 boxes every week, that means it takes about 1,000 boxes to get through a month and it goes fast,” Kelly said. “We know at the start of each year what we have and what we need, and we know that support from the food bank stops for the summer, so we have an account and we prepare to use that money to shop for things we need and keep the bags full.”

Donations of nonperishable food items as well as monetary donations are collected all year to help keep shelves stocked.

The organization always accepts donations of nonperishable food items like macaroni and cheese, cereal, fruit cups, breakfast items and granola bars.

Chicken-flavored ramen noodles and individual servings of peanut butter, SpaghettiOs and juice boxes come in handy.

“We try to keep things as simple as possible so the kids can get it or prepare it themselves without much help,” Kelly said.

Bags are packed each Tuesday at the hub by volunteers and groups who sign up in advance.

“A lot of people come back to help regularly, but we have new people who have learned about us and heard about what we do and want to help, so there have been some new faces,” Kelly said. “We’ll never turn help away, so we always welcome new people, groups or clubs who want to get involved and join in on the fun.”

Bags are delivered by volunteers on the weekends.

It takes about 16 runs to ensure all students receive their food.

All nonperishable food items and toiletries are always accepted and can be dropped off at The Hub during business hours from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays. They can be left in a secured box behind the building any time.

The Hub is located at 1181 Fells Church Road in Rostraver Township.

For more information, to donate or volunteer, find the Bag Brigade on Facebook or email bagbrigadegac@gmail.com.

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