Three 17-year-olds at Medway High School are truly class acts. The girls, all part of their school’s 533 club, spend every Saturday helping at the local food pantry.
"It was a whole new experience," said junior Jess Kaplan.
Kaplan says what began as volunteering has now become a way of life.
"It started freshman year. It was just fun doing work with my best friend and then, all of a sudden it just became part of my everyday life."
The girls unpack the donated food and stock the shelves.
Marilyn Conroy, who has run the food pantry for more than a decade, says she couldn’t do it without them.
The Village Food Pantry feeds more than 50 families every week.
"On Wednesdays, they distribute the food," said senior Vanessa Bussberg. "You just see how grateful everyone is and the people are so nice to you."
Bussberg says the experience is life-changing.
"It was really rewarding because I was taking time out of my day without recognition. I fell in love with community service and now it has become a huge part of my life," said Bussberg.
Junior Kelsey Shea says before she volunteered, she had no idea of all the people in need.
"In Medway, you don’t think of people like that. You don’t think it’s there, so it’s every eye-opening. They are so appreciative and thankful for us, so it makes you feel good," said Shea.
All three girls plan to continue to do community service.
"The impact you get from helping someone else is so much greater than getting my nails done. Making someone happy is a lot more important for me," said Shea.
"You just get the feeling of accomplishment and understand everything you do is for the betterment of this person," said Kaplan.
"I just love the idea of being involved and doing a good thing for your community. It just warms my heart to be part of that," said Bussberg.
Bussberg goes off to college next year, but Kaplan and Shea will continue to work at the food pantry. They even plan to recruit new members.