Bayside boy gives big to fight hunger

Ann Marie Persaud decided long ago that no matter how tight the finances were, she would always find a way to donate. “I tried to pass that along to Cody,” he said speaking of her 8-year-old son, a student at P.S. 205, the Alexander Graham Bell School in Oakland Gardens. Apparently, mom did a good job.
“I made announcements and we gave out flyers for the Daily News City Harvest food drive right after Thanksgiving,” said school Principal Susan Sherer.
It seems that Cody was so impressed by the appeal that he told his mom he was going to “break (his) piggy bank to buy canned food” for City Harvest. “I told him if he really wanted to donate all his savings, I’d match him,” Persaud said.
She did one better, as charity seems to run in the family. “We went to BJ’s in Whitestone, where we could get the most for the money,” Persaud said, confessing sheepishly, “Once I started shopping it was hard to stop, so I sort of double-matched him.”
Eventually, the mother and son team dropped nearly $100 at the big-box discounter, for cases of pasta; boxed macaroni and cheese and huge cans of fruit cocktail and veggies.
The purchase of carloads of foodstuffs may not raise an eyebrow at the cavernous “club” stores, but it caused a stir the school.
“We could hardly believe it,” Sherer exclaimed. “One day Cody’s mom pulled up in front of the school and just started unloading box after box from her car. It was amazing how much food she had,” the ecstatic principal said.
In fact, the school staff was so impressed that they gave the plucky third grader a “Certificate of Distinction.” At an assembly on Friday, December 7, Cody’s “great accomplishment in the field of philanthropy,” at the school was held up as a shining example for the rest of the kids.
“Words can’t express how proud I am,” Persaud said of her little man. “I hope he carries this feeling inside for the rest of his life.”
Back at the charity’s headquarters, they’re also impressed.
“City Harvest is so pleased to receive this especially heartwarming donation,” said spokesperson Erin Hoover. “With empty shelves right now at many of the programs that serve hungry men, women, and children, there’s no better time for New Yorkers to follow Cody’s example,” she said.
Serving New York City for 25 years, City Harvest is the world’s first food rescue organization. This year, they will collect 20 million pounds of excess food from all segments of the food industry.
This food is then delivered free of charge to more than 600 community food programs throughout New York City using a fleet of 16 trucks and volunteers on foot.
“Each week, City Harvest helps over 260,000 hungry New Yorkers find their next meal,” Hoover explained, adding, “Thank you to P.S. 205 and all of the public schools throughout the city that have run food drives for City Harvest this holiday season.”
Want to run a food drive for City Harvest? Call 917-351-8700 or visit www.cityharvest.org.