LEONARDTOWN, Md. (May 12, 2008)—Students from Leonardtown High School
collected $52,809 and 769 pounds of food for the Harvest for the Hungry Campaign
this school year. The school will be recognized for the accomplishment on
Tuesday during the Kids Helping Kids Awards Ceremony.
The ceremony will be held in Baltimore at the offices of the Maryland State Department of Education.
The Kids Helping Kids Campaign, now in its 18th year, is a three-week service learning project held during the fall. The campaign provides students with the opportunity to learn about hunger while collecting food for their local food bank. The food banks then distribute the food to children in need across the state.
Program officials estimate that this year's collections will provide 600,000 meals for hungry children.
Although students from Leonardtown H.S. collected the most cash of any school statewide, their collection of actual food was among the lowest. By comparison, South River Senior High School in Anne Arundel County collected 9,817 pounds compared to Leonardtown's 769 pounds.
Leonardtown H.S. also won an award for their Surviving 9th Grade - Kids Helping Each Other Through Mentoring program. The Students Improving Maryland Awards is a program connected to Kids Helping Kids and funded by the Morgan Stanley Foundation. The school will receive a cash award of up to $1,000.