Thank you, Bigelow Parent Alexander Lee and Green Team Leaders Crista Cavicchio (special education teacher) and Chris LeGare (art teacher) for keeping food waste to a minimum at Bigelow and in Newton! 

Every week this academic year, the teachers coordinated the collection of whole fruits not consumed during lunchtime, and Alexander picked up the bounty to drop off to a Newton North High School student, Cindy Q., and her family to redistribute to Newton families in need. An Underwood Elementary School representative dropped off additional fruit items by Wednesday morning for Alexander to carry along as well! The last pick-up was this week

2020 John O’Connor Grassroots Leadership Award Recipient – Cindy Q.: Cindy, a Newton North High School senior, is being honored for her Zero Waste work founding the Full Fork Initiative. She saw uneaten cafeteria food being dumped in the trash and realized she could tackle two problems, hunger and waste, with one campaign. Her initiative now diverts untouched cafeteria food from seven Newton schools, including Bigelow, reducing waste while distributing weekly snack bags to 100 students in need.