CEDARBURG — Like bulls ready to charge, dozens of elementary schoolers in Cedarburg lined up in front of an imaginary fence just waiting to be released.
No, this wasn't the running of the bulls. This was the Stuff The Bus campaign. It's a food drive. And once the imaginary gate was opened, those young students grabbed as much food as they could to help 'stuff the bus'.
“People that need all that food get it to stay healthy, and I just feel like it’s really important to make sure everyone has a fair life," Sierra Kraus, a 4th grader at Westlawn Elementary, said.
The food drive is in its 7th year. The three participating elementary schools are Thorson, Westlawn, and Parkview. The food drive supports the Ozaukee Food Alliance. In fact, in the past few years, Stuff the Bus has become the biggest food drive for the community pantry. This year, the campaign shattered records. Normally, they get just under 5,000 pounds. However, this year, the students and their families donated 7,225.14 pounds of food, toiletries, and cleaning supplies.
"It isn't just we're collecting a few grocery bags that can fit in a car. We're collecting enough food to feed like a lot of people," Benjamin Brown, a 5th grader at Parkview Elementary, said.
Seven years ago, this started as just a classroom food drive by two school district parents, Kathleen Shane and Katie Draeger. They started by stuffing a bus with food. But then, as more schools got involved, they outgrew the bus and needed to rent a semi-truck.
“And to show our children that it’s important to make a difference and there are many surrounding us in our community that do need our help," Shane, the co-founder, said.
The Ozaukee Food Alliance said the pantry is seeing an increase in demand each year, so a truck stuffed with food will make a big difference.
“We’ve seen a lot of price increases with groceries, so every year I kind of expect that maybe the poundage might go down. But the families in this district keep surprising us every year by bringing in more pounds," Katie Draeger, the other co-founder and Ozaukee Food Alliance employee, said.
Gathering food donations for a good cause is the most important thing. But there is also something pretty big on the line for the elementary school that can donate the most food per student. They get to pie their teacher in the face.
“Any kind of pie, I just want to pie him in the face," Kora Shane, a 5th grader at Thorson Elementary, said.
“I really like key lime pie, so I’d probably do that," Kraus, the 4th grader at Westlawn, said.
“Mmm, I’d probably do cherry," Brown, the 5th grader at Parkview, said.
Personally, if I were going to pie my principal in the face, I think I would go with a mincemeat pie because that feels like it would be the messiest.
And the results are in. Drum roll please... The school that gets to pie their teacher is Westlawn Elementary. They donated 7.44 pounds per student. Have fun with the pieing and good job to everyone for making a difference in the community.
Here's a food donation breakdown by school:
- Thorson: 2,996.80 lbs, 5.61 lbs per student
- Westlawn: 2,226.95 lbs, 7.44 lbs per student
- Parkview: 2,001.39 lbs, 3.93 lbs per student
Watch excited elementary schoolers help stuff the bus...
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