Student Council members from Wayne Hills High School visited Eva’s Village in Paterson to donate food from the Wayne Hills food drive and volunteer in the kitchen to serve lunch to the less fortunate.

While Spirit Week is a fun week for all, it is not only about the school spirit and competitions that make it important–it is also about the food and money that is donated to help those in need during this time of year. Wayne Hills collected over three thousand cans and food items during Spirit Week which were donated to people in need. Some of these food items combined with perishable items donated by the National Honor Society were sorted into bags and baskets which were picked up at Hills by families in need last Tuesday. The remaining food was brought to Eva’s Village on Monday.

Eva’s Village is a nonprofit community in Paterson that supports the needy with services such as addiction treatment and recovery, food and housing, and education and job training. They serve around 350 meals daily and over 400,000 per year. This effort has a strong and lasting impact on the community and is crucial to some of those who live in Paterson. Wayne Hills has been donating the food from spirit week to Eva’s Village for 22 years.

Members of student council started the day with breakfast at the Park Wayne Diner followed by a trip to Eva’s Village. They unloaded the bags of food from the bus into a truck for a local church that is going to distribute the goods to those in need. While half of the students were unloading the bus, the other half went up to the soup kitchen to set up for lunch. All of the students were then assigned a job for lunch with some serving water and coffee and others serving food.

The people who were in need of food were very grateful and appreciative of the students for volunteering. Without the help of Eva’s Village and the volunteers there, many of those people would have trouble finding their next meal.

This experience was very fulfilling for the student council members and they all felt very good knowing they were helping those in need and making an impact on others’ lives. Senior Vice President Maddie Galesi said, “Going to Eva’s Village was very impactful and I’m happy I got the experience to help out my community.”

The efforts of Wayne Hills and the Student Council made a great impact on the local community and the work that they do is important each and every year to help those in need.

Gallery • 2 Photos

Mrs. Saborido

Students distribute plates of food to those in need.