Coronavirus News: Hackensack teacher hands out groceries to families in need

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Hackensack teacher provides groceries to families in need

One New Jersey teacher is working to ensure that families have food in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

HACKENSACK, New Jersey (WABC) -- One New Jersey teacher is working to ensure that families have food in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

Kelly Carroll, a Culinary Arts teacher at Hackensack High School, was checking in on his students when the school closed. After speaking with one parent, he discovered that she was having trouble putting food on the table.

"She was embarrassed to tell me what her son was eating," Carroll said. "As soon as she said that, it just kind of clicked, and I said it sounds like we have got to do something for these kids."

Carroll reached out for food donations, which began rapidly growing from various suppliers and organizations.

"With losing your job, how are you going to feed the people in the house because there is no money coming in, period?" Carroll said.

Carroll says that he now has 225 bins of food filling his front yard and part of his neighbor's yard.

"We will give the families enough food for the week, that week, will sustain them," he said. "It's fresh fruits, fresh produce, dairy, milk, butter, and eggs."

Carroll says the need for the food he provides is desperately growing.

"Big companies are stepping up," he said. "People, our teachers, are really helpful. They help with deliveries and donations. It is incredible the outreach."

Every Monday, Carroll and his family fill the bins, and throngs of delivery drivers pick up the food.

"Everybody gets fed, and everybody stays safe," he said. "Everybody will come down the block. We have a piece of cardboard, and there are four names on it. We will take four bins and a case of chicken, and they will take the piece of cardboard and names and everything on it, and they will go out and deliver."

Carroll doesn't know how long this will continue. He is looking for a bigger space with refrigeration, but he is dedicated to making sure his students, their families, anyone who needs food, will receive it.

"We are going to do it as long as we possibly can," he said. "Don't get me wrong. As long as people donate and companies want to bring food to us, I am going to give it to the people."