Three decades' worth of Williamstown Middle School students have collected and distributed Thanksgiving dinner for classmates in need.
MONROE TWP. -- More than 30 years ago, Pat Bramble was a rookie teacher cooking a Thanksgiving meal for her students and coworkers. She knew some of her students wouldn't be able to have dinner at home, but she didn't realize just how many needy kids there were.
"I made a meal for the kids in my classroom," Bramble said. "I cooked for my homeroom, and I fed the faculty. I didn't mind that, but there's a much greater need."
Ever since then, three decades of Williamstown Middle School students who didn't know where their Thanksgiving dinner would come from have gotten a holiday meal, thanks to Bramble and a school-wide food drive. Bramble gets a list of food-insecure students from the nurse's office every year, then gets to work. No names are ever given out, but her students are always eager to help.
"The kids are always amazed," said Bramble. "I tell them it could be their best friend [who gets a donated meal]. It could be the kid sitting next to them."
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The drive brings in enough food to provide each family with a turkey and sides, along with groceries for the holiday weekend. Students from the Builder's Club, a community service club, sort the donations into color-coded bags with help from faculty volunteers, and then officers from the Monroe Township Police Department personally deliver the meals to each home.
"I thought a lot about if I was in that position," said Tyler Chin, an eighth-grader and co-president of the Builder's Club. "To not be able to eat and spend time with your family -- I don't want others to feel like that."
Tyler, along with his teachers and classmates, packed 225 bags of food in an hour.
"It was a fun experience," he said. "We all worked together."
This year, 75 families (a total of about 100 middle school students, when siblings are taken into account) received the happy knock on their doors from a dozen police officers. The all-time record was 125 deliveries for a single Thanksgiving.
"It gets me ready for the holidays," said Joey Clidy, the school resource officer. "And it gets the guys together to do something positive. Instead of a negative visit from the police, these people are getting a positive one."
Andy Polhamus may be reached at apolhamus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ajpolhamus. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.