Conway Cougars fill pantry with almost 700 pounds of food

CONWAY — Cougar pride was on display last Friday, when the entire Conway Elementary School student body participated in its 21st food drive to benefit the Conway Village Congregational Church (the Brown Church). Students bundled up and loaded up with non-perishable items to make their annual pilgrimage to stock the food pantry’s shelves.

The K-6 Cougars delivered just shy of 700 pounds of food (down from 1,136 pounds last year after it was postponed in 2020 due to COVID) in a little less than an hour.

The drive was the brainchild of teacher Peter Malkin in 2000, and he and fellow sixth grade teacher Kim Mathison oversaw the event until last year when both retired.

Rebecca Fecteau and Colleen Koroski are the new sixth-grade teachers this year and are proud to carry on the tradition of the food drive.

“It’s excellent like it is every year,” said Cathy Baker, administrative assistant. “Peter (Malkin) and Kimmer (Mathison) were missed, but Becca and Colleen did a great job.”

She added: “I honestly can’t think of a better way for us to start the day.”

Sixth-graders collect the food and weigh it each day.

The school began collecting food Nov. 3 and continued over 10 days.

“We had a goal of 1,000 pounds and fell short,” Koroski said. “However, considering these difficult times with an unforeseen future, we couldn’t be more proud of our Conway Cougars.”

“One great part is watching the whole school come together to help our community,” Fecteau said. “We also were amazed by the leadership skills of the sixth-grade class, as they guided and took charge of the food drive.”

She added: “We are grateful for our community.”

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“All food collected stays in Conway to help out all of our families who live here,” Baker said. “Our community is so supportive.”

Malkin, who retired after 41 years at Conway Elementary, long contended there is an educational component along with helping the community.

“The sixth-graders go around to the classrooms each day and pick up the food before recess,” he said. “They tally the amounts (learning about weights and measures) and then announce it over the intercom. Everyone knows how we’re doing.”

The food drive was a first for new principal Katy Bedley, who loved it.

“It was great,” she said. “I didn’t realize they did anything like that.”

She added: “I loved that each child in the building carried a food item over to the church.

“We were like a well-oiled machine from the sixth-graders on the stage (in the gymnasium) handing out items to all of the students to marching to the church, where they handed items off to sixth-grade students who helped stock the pantry,” Bedley said.

Fecteau and Koroski said the event teaches Cougars a valuable lesson.

“They learn the value of community and being part of it,” they said.

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