By Abigail Ham
The Keene Sentinel
PETERBOROUGH N.H. 鈥� Peterborough Fire and Rescue has teamed up with the ConVal chapter of End 68 Hours of Hunger to help keep local schoolkids fed on the weekends. The department hosted three food drives for the program this year, most recently on Saturday. They鈥檝e been so successful the department plans to make them annual events.
End 68 Hours of Hunger is a national non-profit dedicated to providing schoolchildren with a secure source of food between Friday afternoons and Monday mornings. The ConVal chapter serves children in the ConVal School District, which covers the towns of Antrim, Bennington, Francestown, Dublin, Greenfield, Hancock, Peterborough, Sharon and Temple.
Dan Heffernan, a paramedic with the Peterborough department, reached out to End 68 Hours of Hunger last winter about coordinating a drive. Heffernan was moved by instances of food insecurity he witnessed among his children鈥檚 friends at ConVal schools. Although his children are older now, he said he remembers helping them pack extra food for classmates who needed it.
Heffernan鈥檚 co-workers were quick to step up, too. 鈥淭his field is an altruistic field; we are a service industry,鈥� Heffernan said. 鈥淚鈥檝e got a good crew that鈥檚 willing to come out and help.鈥�
According to data from Feeding America, roughly 13 percent of New Hampshire children experience food insecurity, which means they don鈥檛 have enough to eat and don鈥檛 know where their next meal will come from.
鈥淭here鈥檚 so much that it affects if they don鈥檛 have food,鈥� Heffernan said. 鈥淵our brain鈥檚 not going to function like it should.鈥�
The ConVal chapter serves about 160 to 200 children, according to ConVal End 68 Hours of Hunger Program Coordinator Linda Caracappa.
Free lunch and breakfast programs at schools help keep students fed during the week, but the long gap between lunch Friday and breakfast Monday can leave kids hungry on the weekends. That鈥檚 where End 68 Hours of Hunger comes in. The organization provides bags of food that students can take home on weekends. The bags include enough food for two breakfasts, two lunches and three dinners.
ConVal chapter organizers were delighted to have the Peterborough department get involved and, with their approval, Heffernan reached out to the local Shaw鈥檚 to see if the store would serve as a staging area. Store management readily agreed.
In January, the department and Shaw鈥檚 hosted a drive that collected about 2,700 items, according to Heffernan. The drive was so successful that it made sense to do it again, Heffernan said. The department picked a date in May to help stock the program for the summer months.
The community turned out once again, helping the department collect 2,900 items.
After the success of the May drive, End 68 Hours of Hunger staff suggested the department host a drive in September for back-to-school and Hunger Action Month.
鈥淭hey right away said, 鈥楲et鈥檚 do this,鈥� 鈥� Caracappa said. 鈥淭hey are incredible. They do it all and we show up to stand alongside them.鈥�
It has been one of the best-promoted food drives for the program ever, Caracappa said.
Heffernan promoted the drive on the department鈥檚 social media. On Saturday, the department parked an ambulance outside Shaw鈥檚 to fill with food and kept a crew on site to assist.
鈥淲e set up shop right out front, you can鈥檛 miss us: big ambulance, big bald guy,鈥� Heffernan joked.
One person drove from Greenfield to drop off a $20 donation, Heffernan said. When the department promoted the program鈥檚 need for Clif Bars, a community member purchased Shaw鈥檚 entire display of the bars and donated them.
鈥淧eople are happy to do it,鈥� Heffernan said. 鈥淭hey have kids, or they benefited from the program, or they鈥檙e just human.鈥�
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