Morley K-2 students delivered more than 60 wagons full of non-perishables to the West Hartford Food Pantry on Thursday morning.

By Ronni Newton

The mood was as warm, bright, and sunny as the day as approximately 150 Morley Elementary schoolchildren in grades K-2 took their annual 1.22 mile trek to Town Hall on Thursday pulling and pushing more than 60 wagons – mostly red, but there were some other colors as well – filled with roughly 2,000 non-perishable items to benefit West Hartford’s Food Pantry.

This was the 30th anniversary of the Morley Red Wagon Food Drive, which began on a much smaller scale in 1995, and was led by Dawn O’Connor, who retired in 2016. Teachers Mary Beth Hixson and Jennifer LaForte have been the coordinators since 2019, when the 25th anniversary of the initiative was celebrated.

Once the wagons had been unloaded, with the assistance of West Hartford Public Schools administrators, Town Manager Rick Ledwith, Mayor Shari Cantor, members of the Town Council and Board of Education, and town staff, the Morley students gathered in a circle in front of Town Hall where they were thanked and congratulated for their efforts.

“Congratulations on your 30th year of the Red Wagon walk to the West Hartford Town Hall. Wow, that’s pretty cool,” said a very grateful Tullulah Pickens, the food pantry coordinator, who was hired in the past year and experienced this event for the first time. She also thanked the West Hartford Police Department and West Hartford Fire Department, who escorted the students and blocked traffic at intersections for their safe crossing, as well as Morley’s organizers, teachers, staff, and the many proud parents also accompanied the caravan, keeping the children pointed straight ahead as they raced along the sidewalks to make their donations.

The students, Pickens said, are the “proud ambassadors” of Morley. “You are a strong friend to the West Hartford Food Pantry. The Morley Elementary School has continued for 30 years to be caring, giving, and supportive in helping us to be able to continue to serve our neighbors.” And this food drive, she added, is a wonderful kickoff to the holiday season.

The need for staples exists all year long, however. Pickens told We-Ha.com that more than 10,000 bags of food were given out to local residents in need in the last year, to more than 700 families.

“It has an amazing impact, particularly this time of year the need tends to be a lot greater and to be able to have the resources to share with the families, it’s just amazing,” she said. “We do all that we can to try to help these families.”

Cantor told the Morley students and others gathered that the Red Wagon Drive started when her oldest son was in first grade – and he participated in the event in its first year. “And this is his daughter, Louisa … We brought a little wagon and we are trying to get her to understand just how important it is, like you know it is, to help people in the community who might not be as lucky as you are. And those lessons really do stay with you,” Cantor said. “I want you to remember how you feel today by helping people out and making sure that you think about those who aren’t as lucky as you each and every day. I know our community is stronger because of the connections and the giving that you do every day.” Reaching out and being kind, “is the best thing you can do.”

In her proclamation declaring Thursday “Morley Red Wagon Day in West Hartford,” Cantor said that in the 30 years, the Morley community has donated more than 75,000 units of food. “That’s thousands and thousands of families that you have helped.”

Superintendent Paul Vicinus said that it’s amazing that the Red Wagon Food Drive has reached a 30-year milestone. “I am so happy, I am so proud of the work that you guys do every day at Morley School to grow up to be the best version of yourselves … Look at what you’re doing,” he said. “You are demonstrating the vision for West Hartford for being students, for being kind, for helping friends,” said Vicinus, asking the students to hold out their “helping hands” and give a round of support.

Principal Ryan Cleary also added his thanks to those who have helped and supported the event, including special thanks to the coordinators, Hixson and LaForte.

Cleary asked the students to close their eyes, picture their favorite food, picture themselves eating it, and think about how that makes them feel. “That feeling of being full, and happy, is not a feeling that everybody always has. But because of you, so many families in West Hartford are going to have that full, happy feeling in their tummies over the next couple of weeks.”

In November, Morley’s highlighted character trait is “caring,” Cleary said. “And what you’ve all done today is a very caring thing. And it’s caring people that makes the community work.”

There’s a need for food in any community, and you never know when circumstances will change, Cleary said. “[This] is going to help West Hartford support each other and that’s a very, very caring thing to do.”

Before accompanying the students on their trek back to the school with their now-empty wagons, Cleary, who has been at Morley for 12 years, told We-Ha.com, that it’s an honor to be able to carry on this legacy. “When I think about where it started, the first year it was just a couple of baskets brought down to Town Hall, and it just grew, and grew, and grew.” It’s great for the town, and a great lesson for the kids. “It’s such a piece of who were are at Morley,” Cleary said.

The items in greatest need right now include cold cereal, rice, shelf-stable milk, pasta and sauce, tuna, canned ravioli, baked beans, canned fruit, canned vegetables, soup, and peanut butter. According to the town, other commonly donated items are snacks, jelly, canned chicken, macaroni and cheese, and cooking oil.

For more information on donating food or how you can help, contact Food Pantry Coordinator Tullulah Pickens at [email protected] or 860-561-7569. You may learn more about the West Hartford Food Pantry by visiting their webpage.

Food donations can be dropped off in the Town Hall lobby at the Customer Service Desk, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  Financial contributions may be sent to: Town That Cares Food Pantry, 50 South Main Street, Room 130, West Hartford, CT 06107.

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