PTA members, and the Douglas Park community, led by President Emily Vincent and Vice President Bethany Zecher Sutton, rallied together to raise over $2,000 and collect groceries to provide to food to local families in need.
Over the past two weeks, the Randolph Elementary School PTA provided bags of groceries for nearly 300 families. Each bag contained citrus fruit, applesauce, a bag of rice, a bag of dry beans or 2 cans of beans, a box of pasta & jar of pasta sauce, a box of mac & cheese, a box of taco shells, a bottle of vegetable oil, a box of cereal, granola bars or other snacks, a box of Girl Scout cookies, a couple of yogurts and cheese sticks, and a flyer with information about sources of assistance for families.
The PTA is led by President Emily Vincent, Vice President Bethany Bethany Zecher Sutton, Amy Creed, Heather Willis, Meredith Krug, Holly Jeffreys, Jordana Cox, and Beth Fiencke.
The PTA leadership also thanked neighborhood volunteers who have shared coolers, tables, garage and fridge space, have volunteered on site, made signs, and helped in a whole host of ways – Jennifer Allwine, Yvette Carlson, Jamie Daly, Dan Donaghy, Katie Donnelly, Marti Estell, Ellen Franzen, Jackie Garcia, Ruth Garvey (and her family!), Ali Sharkey Goldwater, Kathy Hall, Debbie Hill, Allegra Jabo, Marie Kouba, Ben Madden, Andrea Mangones, Jody Olson, Cassie Ravo, Susan Rochard, David Sachs, Sean Steele, Ben Sutton, Rita Wiggins.
Prior to the current crisis, 255 families with children at Randolph were living on less than $36,000/year. An additional 83 families were living on less than $46,000/year. As the pandemic continues to affect the lives of everyone in our community, more families are finding themselves in need.
The food pantry will be set up again on Friday, April 3, ready to serve 250 families. Want to help support the Randolph Elementary PTA Food Pantry?
Make a Food Donation – Please shop from the list provided below, which has been curated with input from the school social worker and families. Purchasing just one of each item fill a bag for a family! Contact Bethany Zecher Sutton for drop off information.
Requested food items:
- Bags of white or brown rice
- Bags of dry beans
- Cans of black, red, white beans
- Boxes of hard taco shells and packets of mild taco seasoning
- Bottle of vegetable oil
- Dry pasta
- Pasta sauce
- Boxes of breakfast cereal
- Macaroni & cheese
- Granola bars
Make a Tax Deductible Donation to the PTA – Donate via Paypal or by sending a check to Randolph PTA, c/o Meredith Krug, 1719 S. Pollard Street, Arlington, VA 22204.
Donate Grocery Store Gift Cards – It is very helpful to have grocery gift cards to hand out if we run low on supplies, and/or to support high-need families. The PTA cannot purchase gift cards with PTA funds, only donated gift cards can be given to our families. (Note: we also cannot distribute cash to families.)
Volunteer – please email our volunteer coordinator, Amy Creed, to offer your help.