What does more than 3,000 boxes of macaroni and cheese look like and how do you possibly transport that much?

For the answer, just ask the six Pleasant Valley High School seniors, their teacher Melissa Ruschak, West End Food Pantry director Karena Thek and her husband, Bill Thek.

They spent Tuesday morning going to each of the four PV school buildings to collect the boxes and then unloading the truck at the food pantry in Kunkletown.

Their goal was 2,200 boxes in honor of the Class of 2022. They exceeded that goal and collected more than 3,000.

The students did most of the manual labor, which involved putting individual boxes into milk crates and the crates into larger carts to wheel out to the box truck, which Bill Thek drove.

“Physically being here has given me a different perspective. After doing this work today, I have a sense of happiness and humility from helping those in need,” said Ian Wolff.

Wolff donated 76 boxes to the pile at the high school.

“I talked to the managers at Weis where I work, and they donated some,” he said.

The macaroni and cheese drive is a community service project for Ruschak’s career portfolio class. It is a mandatory class for those seniors who are not in the Monroe Career and Technical Institute. The class lasts one marking period and is offered all school year.

“This puts the spotlight on hunger and lets the students understand there are families in the district that need our help,” said Karena Thek. “We love working with the Pleasant Valley School District and teach the kids how to give back.”

Jeremy Major, one of the six students, said it felt great to participate in the drive and help collect all the boxes.

“I was really surprised that the high school had 1,500 and PVE had more than 1,000,” he said.

PVE staff set a goal of 1,000 boxes. If the goal was met, the kids could have a dress-down day. They earned it, and kids did not have to wear their uniforms on Friday.

PVI and PVMS each had a few hundred boxes on their tables in the lobbies.

Ruschak and Thek have partnered in recent years for food drives. Ruschak said that before the COVID-19 pandemic, they gathered 10,000 boxes one year.

There was no macaroni and cheese drive last year. Ruschak and the students were excited to be able to do it this year.

“There is a need in the community to help fight hunger. I would like to thank the community for their support,” Ruschak said.

Thek said the pantry loves this macaroni and cheese drive because it is easy to store and kids love it.

“The holiday season can be very rough. This drive is very timely. It’s important to think of those in need as we enter the holiday season,” Thek said.

The food pantry will have a Thanksgiving distribution for its clients.

“Ertle Subaru will be here providing turkeys to all the families in need. We will have all the fixings that go with it, including macaroni and cheese. Plus, we have pumpkin pie ingredients, cake mixes and icing,” Thek said.

Ruschak’s class will do a smaller food drive for Thanksgiving items, such as canned cranberry sauce, stuffing and canned vegetables. This will be donated to the food pantry, too.

After the students had unloaded the truck and stored the boxes inside the pantry, Thek gave them a tour of the pantry and a detailed overview of how she and her many volunteers serve the community.

Because of COVID, distribution has been outside since March 2020. Bags are pre-filled and include fresh produce.

“We are not a choice pantry because we are drive-thru right now. I think we modified quickly and never missed a moment of giving out food,” Thek said.

Before COVID, clients shopped inside the pantry, taking items they wanted from the shelf, just like they do at local grocery stores.

“In one distribution, near the start of COVID, we had 487 families. That was our highest number ever in one distribution day,” Thek said.

When Thek started the pantry nearly six years ago, they served 37 families using food that had been stored in a small closet.

“A passion for me was helping people. I used to take my daughter to soup kitchens to volunteer,” Thek said.