The Interact Club organized a food drive to help the local food bank stock up on goods for its patrons this Thanksgiving.

Students from the Interact Club solicited donations outside of Kilroy’s on Nov. 14 and 15 “asking for donations as people walk into the store,” according to Mandy Rosengren, president of the Interact Club.

All of the food donations that the Interact Club receives go to the Ridgewood Food Pantry.

“The Ridgewood Food Pantry reaches out to Glen Rock, Ho-Ho-Kus, Ridgewood, Midland Park, Waldwick and Wyckoff. How it works is that people who need to are usually allowed to go ‘shopping’ at the Pantry once a week and, depending on their condition, are allowed to take a certain number of items,” Rosengren said.

The goals of the food drive are to try and collect as much food as possible and “to hold a successful Thanksgiving food drive, leaving the women and children satisfied and happy,” according to Lauren Boos, a member of the club.

The Interact Club is planning another food drive for later in the school year.

Students could help with at Interact food drives by “signing up for shifts down at Kilroys and then later sorting the food. They can also volunteer at the food bank itself,” according to Ms. Debra Brolsma, the Interact Club’s adviser.

Students who sign up to help at Kilroy’s stood outside the store and asked people walking in to buy some food to donate. The club is collecting non-perishable goods. The food is later sorted, and the food bank comes to Glen Rock to gather the supplies and puts them on its shelves. The food will go to the needy families “throughout the next months or so,” said Brolsma.

 Some of the families that come to the food bank would not have food without the donations that are given to the food bank. Since the families know that they will have food for themselves, they can focus on other aspects of life such as looking for jobs or working at jobs they have already.

“The food allows individuals and families to overcome barriers that prevent them from achieving their short and long-term goals,” Rosengren said.