On Friday, February 25, 2011, Danielle Klausner of Millwood began unloading the final results of months of determined work. Her father pulled the family minivan up to the loading dock at ARCS’ Hawthorne food pantry and a veritable army of teens and kids poured out, ready to carry boxes and bags of non-perishable foods and toiletries through a cold rain. Her journey began weeks ago when she went in search of a community service project for her bat mitzvah. Her father David brought her to the Food Bank of Westchester, located in Millwood, for inspiration. While there, one of the Food Bank employees suggested that Danielle collect foods for a specific agency, and told the Klausners about ARCS. Soon Danielle was on a roll, collecting foods at her temple, in a drop box on their front porch, and in the neighborhood. Soon the donations took over one couch, then another, until the entire living room looked like a food pantry itself!

We are very grateful that Danielle chose ARCS as the recipient of foods from her community service project. Our THRIVES Nutrition program and emergency food closets constantly need additional resources, and Danielle’s collection helped us fill the pantry…for a little while at least. Lucky for us, Danielle, her friends and siblings agreed to come back to volunteer with us in the near future!