A student from Richards Elementary School in Newport, N.H. carries a bag of potatoes to the Newport Food Pantry on Dec. 9, 2016.  (Valley News - Jennifer Hauck) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
A student from Richards Elementary School in Newport, N.H. carries a bag of potatoes to the Newport Food Pantry on Dec. 9, 2016. (Valley News - Jennifer Hauck) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Credit: A student from Richards Elementary School in Newport, N.H. carries a bag of potatoes to the Newport Food Pantry on Dec. 9, 2016. (Valley News - Jennifer Hauck) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.

For the past 24 years, students at Newport’s Richards Elementary School have collected potatoes for the town’s food shelf. At the end of the collection period, the students carry their bounty down to the Newport Food Pantry, a brisk 15-minute walk. This year, students collected over 1,000 pounds of potatoes, and delivered them on Friday morning.