Provided by the Neshaminy School District:
The Albert Schweitzer Elementary School in Levittown has been named the recipient of a 2014 Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant of $2,825, according to Joan Higginbotham, Director of Community Relations for Lowe’s.
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The grant will be used by the school’s Community Service Club to plant and maintain a vegetable garden at the school this spring. The students plan to continue maintaining the garden throughout the summer by having their families volunteer time over the school vacation to continue the work.
The produce from the garden will be donated to the Penndel Food Pantry.
The Community Service Club was established in 2012 and has helped local organizations such as St. Mary’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Knights of Columbus in the past, according to teacher Joellen Exner, one of the co-advisers of the club along with fellow staff members Jen Hanley and Mary Ellen Pulak.
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Exner, who wrote the grant application, said the club’s goal is to donate over 2000 pounds of fresh produce to the pantry. The first plantings could come as early as March, since the school already has a greenhouse obtained in a previous Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant in 2011. The current grant will be used to add raised vegetable beds to a courtyard at the school.
“Seventy-five families rely on this service to feed their children,” she said. “Fresh produce is a treasure and treat for these needy families.”
