By Doris Christelis, Contributing Writer
Northborough – Mother Teresa once said, “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one.” Jack Sears and Nicole Ransden of Northborough would have made Mother Teresa proud. For the past five years, Sears and Ransden have been helping feed hundreds of local needy families, thanks to their determination, dedication – and the generosity of their neighbors.
Starting in 200, when they were in third grade, the duo decided they wanted to somehow help the rest of their community.
“We contacted the director of our local food pantry and she suggested that we have a food drive,” said Sears, now 14 and a freshman at Algonquin Regional High School. He and Ransden, also 14 and a freshman at Algonquin, have made it an annual ritual.
Called the “Pine Knoll Food Drive,” the two teens work with their friends and family members, Baelyn Duffy and Caroline Ransden, both eighth graders, to coordinate the scheduling, distribution of bags, collection of bags, sorting of donations, and delivery of the items to the Northborough Food Pantry.
The fall food drive has grown over the years, having started out just as a street-wide collection. This year, the enterprising teens have expanded their collection zone to three nearby streets and cover about 80 houses.
“We distributed over 200 bags and collected over 1,100 items to benefit the Northborough Food Pantry. This was our most successful drive to date. The Northborough Food Pantry has recognized our success and has written and told us how much this helps them in this bad economy,” explained Sears, who wanted to thank all those who made the drive such a tremendous success.
“No one could have guessed how much a neighborhood could pull together to help others,” he added gratefully.
