FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: 05/28/08
PR Contact: Curtis Smith/ Maelstrom PR
562/627-9251
maelstrompr@gmail.com
KELLY MOORE AND MANCHESTER ELEMENTARY MIDDLE SCHOOL (MEMS)
DONATE TO LOCAL FOOD CUPBOARD
Winter/ Spring Charity Food Drive Helps Manchester Food Cupboard fill cabinets and helps with grants.
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| Kelly Moore, Asst. Principal Sarah Merrill, staff and students |
MANCHESTER VT. With the dramatic rise in food prices and an international food shortage crisis in our midst, Music For Mankind® founder and Community Delegate for the Friends of the World Food Program Kelly Moore found a way to help his local community. The Music For Mankind® Charity Food Drive was able to team up with Manchester Elementary Middle School (MEMS) in an effort to aid the Manchester Community Food Cupboard, and was able to donate over $1,500 worth of food in the form of a contest, with the winning class getting an ice cream party. The result of this is twofold, since the Manchester Food Cupboard is now eligible for a Grant through the Feinstein Foundation for the amount of food taken in over the past two months.
"We are thrilled with the incredible amount of food donated by the students at MEMS!" says, Martha Carey, Manager of the Manchester Food Cupboard. "The success of this food drive is certainly due to Kelly's contagious enthusiasm and commitment to helping those in need. These gifts come at a critical time for CFC, as many new families have been turning to us for help as the costs of food and fuel continue to rise. These donations will also help CFC to earn funds through the Feinstein Foundation Challenge Grant, so we are especially thankful to Kelly and the students for their generosity."
Kelly states: "I can't say it was 'unbelievable', because there it was right in front of me...two huge bins filled way beyond their brims, probably weighing 500 lbs. each; and boxes of food stacked all around them. Astonishing! And while we're loading it all onto the trailer, more students keep showing up with yet more boxes of food! The enthusiasm was right through the roof. Students taking charge and helping, others helping haul mammoth amounts of food, and everybody smiling! We all really got to see what a difference we can make together. I feel proud and humbled at the same time to be able to help at this level. It means so much to me, and it means as much or more to the students. My sincerest thanks to all!"Kelly Moore approached two local elementary schools, Maple Street School and MEMS with the contest idea in an effort to help the local community. Both schools had shown great interest, with MEMS being the first to start the contest. In 2007 Maple Street School was able to raise over 20 boxes of food in a week's time, which gave Kelly Moore the idea to extend the food drive through winter and spring. Maple Street School is planning on running their contest the last week of April.
Kelly Moore & Emerald Dreams have been performing over the last year at various venues across Vermont, New York, and Massachusetts where proceeds have fed over 12,000 children in the Sudan area through the United Nations World Food Program as well as various local and regional charities. Kelly has been interviewed two times on WCAX TV's "Across The Fence", Vermont Public Radio, and has been featured in various local and regional papers for his efforts. A promotional DVD is currently airing nationally on Dish Network and on over 40 Community Access and college television stations around the Northeast. Kelly Moore and Emerald Dreams are scheduled to perform in Waterbury, Vermont and Old Forge, New York this summer, followed by performances in Winchester MA., and Bennington College.