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EDWARDSBURG — Students at Edwardsburg Public Schools recently helped make some community members’ holidays a bit brighter.

Sixth-grade teacher Tonya Wright and the Edwardsburg Middle School student council recently presented Edwardsburg Presbyterian Church Pastor Scott Scheel with a check for the Edwardsburg Food Pantry. In total, the middle school donated more than $1,500.

Scheel said the funds raised would be used to purchase food or help residents with utilities and food/gas vouchers over the winter months.

“They were so impressive,” Scheel said of the middle school students. “It really gives me a lot of hope for the future when you see the middle schoolers be able to pull something off like this right now. It’s touching to see. They were truly an impressive group of young adults, and I’m touched by what they were able to pull off.”

According to Scheel, the donation from the middle school students came at just the right time, as the holiday and Christmas season is the food pantry’s busiest. He said the donation would help take care of the community’s families in need during a difficult time of year.

“There is a big need this time of year, especially with the utilities in the winter,” He said. “This [donation] shows the support of the whole community and how the community supports the food pantry. I think it’s important for the kids to know about the need in the community. It helps them learn and grow.”

In addition to the usual need around the holiday season, Scheel said there had been an increased need at the food pantry this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the challenges the food pantry has faced due to the pandemic, he said the pantry has been able to continue to serve the community, thanks in part to donations like the one from Edwardsburg Middle School.

“We had to figure out how to figure out how to do all the holiday giveaways differently this year,” he said. “We were still able to do toys and Christmas [giveaways] last week. It was more difficult, but we managed to pull it off. It was kind of remarkable that we were able to pull it off, but it went well.”