Oysterponds students stack nearly 700 cereal boxes in record food drive

Tony the Tiger, Toucan Sam and Count Chocula showed up at Oysterponds Union Free School District Thursday morning — but the real stars were the students, stacking nearly 700 cereal boxes that snaked from the gym and into the hallway.

The domino line of colorful characters was the culmination of the Orient school’s fourth annual Cereal Box Challenge, which brought in a record-breaking 692 cartons to help local families facing food insecurity.

“It helps a lot of people when they don’t have a lot of money, so they can have some food,” precocious fourth-grader Tyler Dzenkowski said. “It’s really crazy that now we have over 600 boxes. I thought we were just going to get 500.”

School counselor Veronica Stelzer, who organizes the annual challenge, had set a goal of 500 boxes — surpassing last year’s record haul of 441 — for the monthlong food drive, which is in partnership with the Center for Advocacy, Support and Transformation (CAST).

“Let’s really drive home the point of why we do this,” Ms. Stelzer said. “It’s not just for fun, it’s not just for the dominoes. It’s to feed families in our community. I know that we’re a tiny school, but the impact that they knew they were going to make is huge.”

Each year, students set up the donated cereal boxes as a giant domino chain in the gym. This time, with nearly 700 boxes, the line stretched into the hallway.

Pre-K students led the way with 215 boxes collected, followed by third and fourth grade (159), the first and second grade (147), the fifth and sixth grade (91) and kindergarten (80).

After a schoolwide countdown, the cereal boxes began to fall. When the last domino dropped, the entire student body erupted into cheers.

“I wanted to start a service project. I had seen other schools do the cereal box challenge; I thought it was incredible,” said Ms. Stelzer. “All of a sudden, the pre-K class — don’t know what got into them — but it became a competition for real. Every day, there were students walking in with cereal boxes. It was incredible. The generosity is unbelievable.”

After the dominoes fell, students helped collect the boxes and prepare them for delivery to CAST. In early March, its staff visited classrooms to talk directly with students about food insecurity.

Sarina Harley, CAST’s food relief program manager, read to students in pre-K through second grade — and teachers said their engagement and questions stood out.

Ms. Harley said it’s amazing to see kids learn about and help their fellow community members at such a young age. 

“To me, one of the most important things we do is serve the most vulnerable, youngest population,” Ms. Harley said. “When children of that same group are helping each other, it’s particularly moving. It bridges the gap, and that means they’re realizing service and that the community has to help each other.”

For Superintendent Justin Cobis, the moment showed students exactly why the project matters.

“That’s the full circle moment where, yes, it’s a fun competition, and yes, it’s a fun event, but it brings the meaning to light as to how this actually impacts families in a positive way,” he said. “Credit to Ms. Veronica Stelzer for organizing it over the years. Our entire faculty has bought in, and our families have been phenomenal.”