Turners Falls High School and Great Falls Middle School held a dodgeball fundraiser on Friday to raise money to make “munch boxes” — complete meals for local families in need.
Those families will receive the boxes following the holiday season.
Faith Kaemmerlen, the teacher of the “Rise Up” class sponsoring the event, said the class has students identify needs in the community, as well as an action they can take to try to help. This year, students learned about food insecurity and decided they wanted to address the issue. Kaemmerlen said the idea of the “munch box” came about to try to address food insecurity after the season of giving.
“A lot of people donate food during the holidays, but not during the time following them, and the idea was to provide something useful, like the ease of a prepared meal,” Kaemmerlen said. “This is a student driven event — they plan, organize and clean up for this event. It’s really great to see it all come together for them.”
She said the dodgeball event has been going on for more than six years, and draws people from the community, including members of the Montague Police Department, students from other schools and others.
“It’s an inexpensive family friendly event that’s safe and substance-free,” Kaemmerlen said.