Students pack up peanut butter & jelly to help kids in need

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- More than 23,000 pounds of peanut butter and jelly filled the Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin warehouse, as dozens of little hands were busy boxing them up.

"It's fun, you get to see how much people collected over the past couple of weeks and I can't believe how much they collected," said Steffen Middle School 8th grader Kacie Gross.

This year marked the 11th Annual Peanut Butter and Jelly Challenge.

Students from 47 schools participated in the competition, as they collected peanut butter and jelly for children in need throughout the month of October.

"This is really an opportunity for them at a very basic level to understand what helping another person in the community in need is all about," said Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin Communications Manager Gina Styer.

St. Joseph Catholic Academy and Whitefish Bay Middle School won for most pounds of PB&J per school, and Divine Mercy School and Steffen Middle School won for most pounds collected per student.

"We handed out flyers and we put up signs and posters and we also went to the grocery stores and put out a cart with a sign on it asking people to donate," said Gross.

Select students from the winning schools got to go to the Feeding America warehouse to help package the peanut butter and jelly to send to area pantries.

"It feels really good because you just know that you're helping everyone and it's a good feeling," said Divine Mercy School 8th grader Grant Zdroik.

As Feeding America provides food to 105,000 children each year, this effort will make a big difference.