by Heidi L. Everett
news@thenewsleaders.com
St. John’s Prep students, faculty and staff are sharing the spirit of Thanksgiving by donating food and money to the St. Joseph Community Food Shelf to serve more than 30 families in St. Joseph.
Students from grades six through 12 collected food and money to contribute to the food shelf to serve local families a hearty and healthy Thanksgiving meal. This year families brought in non-perishable food items including canned vegetables, bottles of juice, boxes of stuffing, dry biscuit mix, cans of broth and cream of mushroom soup, bags of potatoes and other holiday staples. Other items included breakfast cereal, boxes of macaroni and cheese, containers of cookies and other kid-friendly favorites. In addition, they collected more than $2,300 in cash and checks to purchase turkeys, pies, buns and other perishable items.
“The generosity of our students and families is remarkable. It’s a wonderful display of the depth of community and gratitude at Prep and symbolic of the Benedictine values we hold as a school,” said Head of School Jon McGee.
Donations to the St. Joseph Food Shelf are needed and welcomed Non-perishable food items can be placed on the food-shelf cart under the balcony in the Church of St. Joseph at 12 W. Minnesota St. Checks can be mailed to the Parish Office and should be payable to “Church of St. Joseph” with “food shelf” on the memo line.
Clients of the food shelf must live in the St. Joseph area. To receive assistance, clients must have a picture ID and verification of address. For more information about the St. Joseph Community Food Shelf, contact Julie Gravgaard at 478-213-2700. Checks can be mailed to: P.O. Box 384, St Joseph, MN 56374 and made payable to St Joseph Community Food Shelf.

St. John’s Prep students prepare to load the St. Joseph Food Shelf truck with non-perishable food items. They are (clockwise from left) Maya Beumer, of St. Joseph; Kai Kyumin of Bundang-gu Seongnam Gyeonggi of the Republic of Korea; St Joseph Foodshelf employee Julie Gravgaard, of St Joseph; Gigi Pan, Irvine, California; and SJP Campus Ministry Director Tricia Lyngen. St. John’s Prep students raised $2,300 to feed more than 30 local families.