Westwood students volunteer at 2nd Harvest

Contributed photos Cheney School District

SPOKANE – Cheney School District’s Westwood Middle School students took part in an all-day field trip to volunteer at 2nd Harvest Food Bank on Friday, Dec. 13.

Eighth-grade National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) students organized by Kristi O’Donnell volunteered from about 9:45 a.m. to noon while the seventh-grade NJHS students helped out from 1 – 3:30 p.m. According to a news release, there are five “pillars” of NJHS membership and service is one of them. Westwood NJHS has been volunteering at Second Harvest for seven years now. 

District communications coordinator Shannen Talbot noted in an email that since 2016, Westwood National Junior Honor Society has more than 700 volunteer hours at Second Harvest. With Washington state valuation of a volunteer hour fixed at $31.72, the two shifts worked on Dec. 13 translated into $3,700 worth of volunteering.

Second Harvest provides food to people in need in 26 counties in Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho. Westwood NJHS kids sorted almost 20,000 pounds of corn and pears last Friday.