HOWARDS GROVE, Wis. — Students at Howards Grove Schools collected 6,645 boxes of cereal in about a month to donate to Sheboygan food pantries, far exceeding their goals for the community service project.
"We never really expected it to go this big," said Sierra Bramstedt, a senior at Howards Grove High School.
The district arranged thousands of cereal boxes through school hallways, donated by students and local companies. On Thursday, the school hosted a domino release event to celebrate its hard work.
The path ran through both the middle school and high school, creating images showing pride in their schools (the word "tiger") and the Sheboygan County community (a heart).
"It's absurd. It's really amazing that all of us as a community can get together and make this possible," Cailyn Zielinski, a senior at Howards Grove High School, said.
Watch: Howards Grove students collect over 6,600 boxes of cereal for local food pantries
The project required significant dedication from students, with some working late into the evening to organize the donations.
"So so many people put in continuous hours after school for this. We had people here until 11:30 p.m. last night," said Araya Wallace, an 8th grader at Howards Grove Middle School.
The cereal drive comes during a time when local resources are strained by increased demand for food security in the community.
These donations were split among three pantries: the Sheboygan County Food Bank, the Sheboygan Falls Food Pantry and Immanuel UCC.
Each box of cereal includes a kindness card with an encouraging message for recipients.
"They got a couple of meals for their family, but they also got a kind message that every time they pick up a box, they can read," said Kendra Busse, a 7th grader at Howards Grove Middle School.
After the successful domino release, students loaded the boxes to distribute to the three local food pantries. The project has strengthened bonds within the school community and inspired students to continue the tradition.
"I think of the phrase, 'It's a blessing to be a blessing to other people,'" said Emily Nelson, a senior at Howards Grove High School.
"I feel like we've become more of a connected community within just the students themselves," said Ashlyn Graf, another senior at Howards Grove High School.
The students plan to continue this annual tradition to help those in need in their community.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
