By Tim Harfmann
There were assembly lines of Catholic academy students spreading kindness before Thanksgiving this morning at Immaculate Conception Catholic Academy.
Fifth grader Raniel Pasaoa and his classmates made sandwiches for the less fortunate.
“They cannot afford food, and we want to help them out,” said Raniel.
Fourth grader Emma Palacio added, “It’s important because they’re homeless, so we need to give them a little gift.”
Immaculate Conception Catholic Academy in Jamaica Estates, Queens teamed up with ‘One Sandwich at a Time.’
The nonprofit feeds thousands of people in need by handing out peanut butter and jelly, or sunflower-based butter sandwiches.
“They actually love it because it doesn’t spoil, they can put it in their backpack, eat it when they’re hungry later in the day; it’s also soft, and people don’t realize that the homeless population very often don’t have the best of teeth and it’s hard for them to chew,” said George Kontogiannis from ‘One Sandwich at a Time.’
Today, the students made over a thousand of them.
The sandwiches will be distributed to three different shelters throughout the five boroughs.
Students say their desire to help others, along with their Catholic education, goes together like a good old fashioned PB&J sandwich.