Because of the coronavirus pandemic, seniors at St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights couldn’t hold their usual two weeks of onsite volunteer work before graduating this year.
So, they hosted a 250-car parade at the school May 6, with families passing by a long line of faculty and staff and dropping off 350 bags of food for an emergency food shelf.
Seniors Jack Bartlett of Inver Grove Heights, Matthew Boland, Devin Klein and Andres Ridley, all of Mendota Heights, Max Fulton of Edina and Jack Kelly of St. Paul spearheaded the effort. This time-lapsed video from the school tells part of the story:
The food shelf is in St. Paul’s Frogtown neighborhood. Run by the Franciscan Brothers of Peace, the assistance to the needy is faces rising demand because of business closures and high unemployment driven by COVID-19 safety measures.
