HAMPDEN/WILBRAHAM – For two weeks this fall, area residents have a chance to donate food staples to Lorraine’s Soup Kitchen & Pantry and help some young adults learn life skills along the way.

The students at the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District (HWRSD) transition program are hosting a food drive to benefit the Chicopee-based soup kitchen. Collecting and sorting the food, and learning where it goes, are all part of the lessons for the 18 to 22-year-old students who have put the food drive together.

“Our students all have unique individual needs,” said Anthony Zaremba, a teacher who has been with the program for about a year. The transition program teaches life skills, such as grocery shopping, budgeting, cooking and social skills. It also allows them to shadow jobs and integrate them into their community.

Getting to know the community is the main reason that the program conducts a fall food drive, a clothing drive in January and a car wash during the summer, Zaremba said. He added, “It’s a huge opportunity for my guys to work on their communication skills.”

The students began by talking about who they might be able to help with the charity event. From there, they worked on making signs to advertise the food drive and reaching out to people and businesses in the community.

“The ultimate goal is to get the students internships in the community,” Zaremba said. Recruiters, such as those from Big Y and the Springfield Thunderbirds, will often come in to let the students know what options are available to them. “We are trying to give them a little exposure to what’s out there,” Zaremba said.

Zaremba acknowledged that the pandemic has made it so there are fewer of those opportunities as many companies are not allowing tour groups yet. That makes events like the food drive all the more important as an opportunity for the young adults to get to know their community.

The food drive runs Oct. 25 to Nov. 5 and donations can be dropped off at the front entrance of Thornton W. Burgess School, 85 Wilbraham Rd.