Burrell students collect and bag pandemic safety kits for 260 Knead Café patrons

Patrons received more than grab-and-go free community boxed meals Thursday at the Knead Community Café in New Kensington.

They got a dose of pandemic protection with 260 safety kits stuffed with hand sanitizer, gloves and masks, courtesy of Burrell students.

Before the pandemic hit, Burrell students were volunteering at the café, waiting on customers, busing dirty dishes and cleaning.

That ended with the pandemic, but the students felt they had to do something, said Elisabeth Gural, 18, of Lower Burrell, a Burrell senior and president of Burrell’s Interact Club, which focuses on community service.

“I knew people were struggling during the covid-19 pandemic to find hand sanitizer, masks and other sanitizing products,” she said.

Gural wanted to advocate for protection during the pandemic, especially for café patrons who have limited resources.

“We wanted to show people that they are not alone and if you need hand sanitizer and masks, it is here for you,” she said.

Gural was confident she could get the donations.

The school’s Interact Club sent out about 200 emails to all school district families and staff requesting and securing donated hand sanitizer, masks and other helps.

They received more than 1,200 masks, 487 hand sanitizers, 430 pairs of disposable gloves, hand soap, disinfecting wipes, masks for young children and other items.

“In its essence, it’s the idea that young people did this,” said Paula Langer, the café’s general manager. “They already have an awareness to partner with our community to give back and help other people who are in circumstances different than their lives,” she said.

Langer credits the awareness and compassion of Burrell students to their upbringing and the school district.

“I think it comes from the fact that their teachers are open and honest with them about the world — that the blessings they have in their lives aren’t necessarily the same experiences in other people’s lives,” she said.

Burrell teachers, Superintendent Shannon Wagner and others with the district have participated with students at the café, Langer said.

Darcy Holtzman, a world literature teacher at Burrell High School who is the Interact Club sponsor said she couldn’t be more proud of the students.

“With the year as tough as it is, it’s been amazing and heartwarming to watch the students come together with the goal of helping and caring for people in the community around them,” she said.

The Interact Club, with more than 100 Burrell High School students, is supported by the Burrell-New Kensington Rotary Club.