BELFAST — As it has for the past nine years or more, the East Belfast Elementary School fifth-grade class, headed by teacher Lynn Hoenig, will be having a fundraising event for the Greater Bay Area Ministerium Food Cupboard.

Each year the fifth-graders at East Belfast have taken on the challenge to give so that their friends and neighbors in need around Waldo County can get a little bit of help through the work of the GBAM Food Cupboard.

The fifth-graders will be collecting donations as well as food items and will hold a Holiday Bazaar on Dec. 18, when all the students have a chance to come and buy small gifts for their family members and friends. And as they collect donations, they all do push-ups or jumping jacks for each dollar they collect, making the challenge both a physical one as well as a financial one.

This year there will be an added incentive for Hoenig's fifth-grade students. The Randall-Collins VFW Post 3108 of Belfast has offered a matching grant of up to $500, so the students are eager to make that mark and double their donation to the food cupboard.

On Dec. 2, Rev. Joel Krueger of The First Church in Belfast, UCC, representing the ministerium, came and helped the students kick off their fundraiser. He and other ministerium members will return on Dec. 22 as the kids conclude their event and present the donations for the food cupboard.

The Greater Bay Area Ministerium Food Cupboard, managed by Russell and Sue Wing and assisted by Barbara Cioe, is located at the Belfast United Methodist Church at 23 Mill Lane, and serves families every other Friday morning. During those weeks, volunteers from the ministerium churches pack 200 bags of groceries to be dispersed to more than 150 families. They are just one of a number of food pantries in the area that serve the 15.5 percent of the population in Waldo County who are food insecure — a total of about 6,000 people.

Those interested in donating to the fifth-grade class fundraiser can make a check out to "East Belfast School" with "Food Cupboard" in the memo line. Also, donations of small gift items, like books and small toys and other items, will be accepted for the students’ Holiday Bazaar.

For more information, call 207-338-4420.