Poly Prep students, staff pack and deliver food to community members in need   

A Dyker Heights school is lending a hand to help the less fortunate.

Students and staff from Poly Prep Country Day School packed food and produce then dropped them off at One Love Community Fridge locations throughout the borough Feb. 7.

One Love Community Fridge is a nonprofit organization that helps eliminate hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition. 

The school has long partnered with the organization and holds three delivery sessions per year.

More than 70 volunteers attended and many of the students contributed as part of their service-oriented curriculum. The school delivered over 600 bags of produce and pantry items. 

The morning was led by Student Service Learning Team members Harper Giskan and Ellie Warwick. 

“For the past seven weeks, we have been engaging with our communities’ food deserts and lack of resources, brainstorming how Poly Prep can make a change for these local areas,” said Giskan. “It feels pretty surreal that at 17, I can make a real impact in Brooklyn, as I spend another semester working with kids on stocking fridges that, within minutes after my work is done, are emptied and enjoyed.”

Warwick said she had previously launched her own initiative called Nourishing New York to bring friends and family to the Bowery Mission to donate food to people experiencing homelessness.

“I had always known that Poly held pack-out days with One Love, and I wanted to leverage my interest to help provide food for others, with a strong message behind it,” she said. 

Giskan and Warwick serve on the Service Board at Poly Prep and attend pack-out days to build community and support others. The students decided to combine their interests into a Service Learning Team during their junior year.

“Once we received approval, we knew we wanted kids to gain hands-on experience so they could make a tangible difference,” Warwick said. “Since Poly was already working with One Love and we had scheduled pack out days, we decided to combine the SLT with the pack-out day. We discussed increasing turnout, and Henry Crowley, captain of the football team, wanted to involve the team, which led to a significant increase. It was very exciting to see so many people come together for a great cause.”

School administrators were proud of the volunteers.

“Saturday’s Packout Day at Dyker Heights was a huge success,” the school posted on its Facebook page. “Thank you to everyone who braved the cold, gave their time, and helped make this Packout one of the best-attended service events in Poly’s recent history.