Press Release

Metropolitan Education District 760 Hillsdale Ave San Jose, CA 95136 December 8, 2006 Joyce Monda, Public Information Officer 408-723-6461

Contact: Michelle Alaimo Public Information Office (408) 723-6464 malaimo@metroed.net

MAEP Food Drive Brings Education and Community Together

What started as a class project took on a life of its own as hundreds of Metropolitan Adult Education Program (MAEP) students partnered with community members to collect more than an estimated 7,000 pounds of food for Second Harvest Food Bank.

The massive food drive titled “Walkway to Hunger Relief” began October 17 and ended December 7. Nearly every MAEP class from four different MAEP centers participated in the drive.

On December 7, students made a long train through the Erikson Adult Center parking lot, entirely made out of cans of donated food. The food sculpture was judged by officials from Second Harvest Food Bank as part of their yearly Rodin Award-Canned Food Sculpture Contest.

“We were amazed at the amount of food that we collected,” Bridge student Prescilla Vidros, said. “It was a fun experience to collect the food and to make a train out of cans.”

The drive was part of MAEP’s Bridge and Work Experience work service learning project where students learned skills that could help them in the real world. For the kickoff event in October, students worked on a number of skill building activities including preparing banners, posters, and a PowerPoint demonstration on why people should donate to the food drive. Student speakers described what it is like to be impoverished and to be hungry; a donation can make a huge difference to a family.

CalWORKs Work Study Program Coordinator and Food Drive Liaison, Valerie Clifford, said that many students who participated in the drive are low-income and still found ways to give and/or get people to donate.

“The students became empowered after they realized what they were capable of,” Clifford said.

Bridge and Work Experience students also spanned out into the community near the Erikson Adult Center handing out nearly 600 Second Harvest food collection bags. Over a two-week period, students walked through neighborhoods collecting bags of food, 360 in all, and left a thank you note for the donation.

Bridge student Josie Arellano said she was very surprised that they collected so much food and she looked forward to finding the full bags near a community member’s front door.

The project included a field trip to Second Harvest where students learned how a nonprofit operates. Students worked a shift in which they sorted donations. The drive also helped students in poverty connect with the resources they needed to find food and shelter.

Second Harvest Community Giving Manager, Michelle Sklar said that the student’s involvement in the drive and presentations were “impressive.” Second Harvest collected MAEP’s food donations on December 7, after judging the food sculpture, will collect more food on Dec 12th, and by February will let MAEP know the total poundage of food collected.

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MetroED is the largest career-oriented educational organization in Santa Clara County, comprised of high school and adult occupational, academic and community programs.

MetroED annually provides 50,000 diverse students with the skills to help them be productive, income-earning and tax-paying contributors to Silicon Valley.