WINTERSVILLE – Pupils at Wintersville Elementary School are making sure shelves are stocked at area pantries to help feed residents in need.

The school’s fourth-grade student council is spearheading a canned food drive until next week, after which they will divide the proceeds between the Wintersville Good Neighbor Association and Wayne Township food pantries. Adviser Toni Voltz said it’s the second year for the campaign and pupils are responding with everything from canned goods and noodles to baby food and toiletries.

“We started Dec. 1 and it will run until (Thursday). We’ve sent home flyers,” she said, adding each homeroom has been challenged to collect nonperishable goods. “I’m keeping a tally and the winning homeroom gets a pizza party.”

Pupils gathered roughly 2,200 items last year, a number that Voltz hoped to top with special activities during the final week of collection.

“The council will be implementing activities to increase motivation and get them involved,” she said, adding the campaign also instills community pride since the food stays local. “We’re feeding our own and you are literally providing food for somebody.”

Voltz was contacting a local business to possibly provide a box truck for hauling the food items, and the Indian Creek Local School District is furnishing a bus to transport the estimated 40-45 student council members on delivery day. The kids will help sort the boxes and line the pantry shelves with new inventory. The project had been done at the former Wayne Elementary School in Bloomingdale, and officials at Wintersville want to carry on that tradition.

Student Council Vice Presidents Aiden Orr and Emma DiBenedetto said they are happy to pitch in and help others.

“It’s really fun bringing up boxes and stocking the cans,” said Orr.

“(I like) just doing group work with everybody,” added DiBenedetto.

Meanwhile, the council has been promoting anti-bullying campaigns and it plans to continue those efforts throughout the year. Projects range from performing random acts of kindness to creating a “promise tree.”

Voltz said she’s proud of the pupils’ interest in helping others, and it was something she hopes will continue long afterward.

“Every week, we have a meeting with a topic. Topics could be ‘what does it mean to be a leader’ or ‘what does it mean to be a good friend?’ We’re trying to teach how to be good members of the community. This is not about what you can get; it’s what you can do,” she continued. “We are doing things to make them want to get involved, and I hope they take that with them after they leave this school.”