New Kensington-Arnold's Project SEED packs 100,000th bag of food for children in need

Editor’s note: This story was updated on Friday, March 7.

A child in the New Kensington-Arnold School District received a special bag of food for this weekend.

Project SEED, which stands for “Something to Eat Every Day,” marked a milestone Friday, distributing its 100,000th bag of food in the school district.

The project combats childhood hunger during the school year by providing children in need at Martin Elementary in New Kensington and H.D. Berkey Elementary in Arnold with bags of food for the weekend.

Teachers discretely pass out the bags on Fridays.

The project also has pantries for students at Roy A. Hunt Elementary in Arnold and Valley High School in New Kensington.

The 100,000th bag, packed Wednesday at the New Kensington Center for Active Adults in New Kensington, ended up bound for H.D. Berkey. The child who received the bag would find extra treats and surprises along with a note for their parents explaining why, said Joanne Cecchi, a retired New Kensington-Arnold teacher and administrator.

Cecchi started Project SEED in 2013 with Ruth Carson, a teacher and reading specialist in the district. They retired in 2008. Carson died in 2016.

Cecchi, 71, of Allegheny Township, was a high school business teacher, assistant principal, principal and assistant superintendent over a 32-year career in New Kensington-Arnold.

“I taught here. I saw kids coming to school hungry all the time,” she said. “We decided to do something about that.”

All of the food collected is either donated or purchased with grants or cash donations from the “many loyal donors who support our fundraising efforts every year and allow us to honor our promise to these kids that we will always be there for them,” Cecchi said.

The other critical piece of the Project SEED’s success, Cecchi stressed, is the dedication and commitment of its loyal volunteers, most of whom are senior citizens.

More than two dozen volunteers packed almost 240 bags of food Wednesday.

“Every one of those bags is a kid who is going to have something to eat this weekend,” Cecchi said.

Each bag included chicken noodle soup, beef ravioli, macaroni and cheese, cereal, Pop-Tarts, fruit cup, pudding, apple sauce, oatmeal, breakfast bars, snack crackers, animal crackers or muffins, hot chocolate and a cup of peanut butter.

Brooke Ives, of New Kensington, is grateful for the program. A mother of nine, Ives said a huge chunk of her paycheck often goes toward groceries.

“With food prices being so high, this has helped a lot,” she said. “This gives us extra snacks and food to get us through the month.

“The snacks are usually healthy, and the kids really like them. I appreciate it.”

Special bags are prepared to account for allergies, and extra food is included for long weekends.

Cecchi is proud that the program has continued to grow over the past 12 years.

“In fact, the kids that were in our program in 2013, as first graders, are now seniors in high school,” she said. “They represent an entire generation of ‘SEED kids’.”

Cecchi knew the group would hit its 100,000th bag on Wednesday because she has been keeping track. After last week, they were at 99,970.

New Kensington Mayor Tom Guzzo presented a proclamation congratulating Project SEED, thanking Cecchi and Carson for their time and energy.

The city’s public works employees deliver the food bags to the schools — when the red truck pulls up, the kids call it “food Friday,” Cecchi said.

“This program is so valuable. It’s invaluable, actually,” Guzzo said.

Banners marking the milestone were made by students at Northern Westmoreland Career & Technology Center.

One of them noted that 100,000 bags would wrap around the community three and a half times.

The volunteers received mugs as gifts marking the occasion.

“For so many of them, it’s an important part of their day,” Cecchi said. “They come week after week. I couldn’t do it without them.”

Jean Nader, of New Kensington, is a board member of Project SEED who says she has been part of it longer than she can remember. Packing that 100,000th bag was an incentive for her and the other volunteers.

“Every penny that’s donated to SEED goes to food. That’s amazing,” she said. “I know of no other organization that has no administrative costs coming out of donations.”

Cecchi was confident that Carson was smiling down on them.

“I feel like this is my life’s work,” she said. “This is my calling. I feel so strongly about what I’m doing. It’s a labor of love.”

Staff writer Tawnya Panizzi contributed to this report.