Old Saybrook High School (OSHS) Senior Ryan Brodeur has conducted several food drives for his capstone project, starting back in October 2025. The food collected from the drives is donated to the Shoreline Soup Kitchens and Pantries (SSKP) in Westbrook, which states, “The Shoreline Soup Kitchens & Pantries is an interfaith service that provides food and fellowship to those in need and educates our community on hunger and poverty.” (via SSKP website). When deciding what to do for his capstone, Ryan states, “I’ve volunteered there for around five years, I thought it would be the best fit for me because I had prior experience.”
So far, Ryan has conducted peanut butter, cereal, and canned tuna drives, with donation bins placed in the foyer of OSHS. These types of foods were specifically selected because, “they (SSKP) told me the best foods to donate are ones with long shelf-life and are filling foods, which is why I chose to raise and donate foods like peanut butter and canned tuna.”
Now partnering with the Nation Honors Society (NHS), Ryan has expanded, specifically on the advertising for these food drives. With help from the NHS, and other forms of advertising such as loudspeaker announcements and flyers, Ryan was able to spread the word across OSHS. The SSKP states, “Our mission is made possible because of the generous support of our community.” (via SSKP website) and Ryan is harvesting this “generous support” from the community at OSHS by collecting donations of food to give back to the rest of the shoreline community. Ryan states, “It means a lot to be able to give back to the community that has helped me through all of these years, and I’m extremely grateful for all of those donations.”
