A group of local elementary school girls spent hours Saturday collecting donations of non-perishable food for the Lorton Community Action Center’s food pantry. The nine students of Island Creek Elementary School in Alexandria are between eight and nine years-old, and acted on behalf of local charity Kids Sending Smiles.

At the end of the day, they collected $287 for the charity outside of the Giant Food store, at 7558 Telegraph Road. 

The center’s pantry shelves are nearly empty, and the group also collected:   

• 41 jars of peanut butter
• 33 jars of jelly
• 33 cans of beans
• 32 jars of pasta sauce
• 28 packages of rice
• 75 boxes of pasta
• 84 cans of tuna fish and other canned meat
• 1 loaf of bread
• 48 boxes of cereal
• 26 cans of soup
• 1 box of crackers
• 2 packages of coffee and tea
• 1 package of oatmeal
• 1 jar of apple sauce
• 6 cans of vegetables
• 1 box of jello
• 2 boxes of granola bars

"The girls stood in front of the store and asked for help," said parent Laurie Flanagan. "The community answered. One elderly gentleman donated $100 saying that he knows there are people in his community that need money from his pension more than he does."

Kids Sending Smiles is a community service organization started by a group of Northern Virginian elementary school girls. Their projects include a winter coat drive for the Navajo Nation, financial support for a children's shelter in Peru and a lemonade stand with proceeds that paid for medical supplies in Mali.