HARTFORD -- It was a huge mission. Wednesday morning students at the Milner Academy in Hartford transformed their school into an assembly line to feed the hungry.
“Right now I am nervous, it is my first time, and to show people love,” says student Miguel Rivera. “We really enjoy helping out and we’ll do anything for anybody else,” says classmate Kiauny Terrell.
The students teamed up on World Children’s Day with volunteers from Cigna. The goal was to pack 20-thousand Jambalaya kits where all you need to do is add water.
“It’s meaningful stuff, we recognize that not everyone is as fortunate as some others might be, so it is a great opportunity for us to get back in a really meaningful and impactful way,” says Mark Cole with Cigna.
Foodshare estimates about 12-percent of people in Connecticut have trouble making sure they can get food on the table and that figure jumps closer to 25-percent in Hartford. Principal Leonardo Watson sees a lesson for his students, “First and foremost I want them to think that there are always opportunities for service there are always opportunities to give back for the greater good.”
And in their efforts the students say there is a message for adults too. “If you want other people to help you, you have to help them,” says Rivera. “It is giving us a chance to show that we can help as much as anyone else can,” says Terrell.