Ryan Gloyer Middle School eighth-grader Lilia Maschmeier loads canned goods Wednesday with classmates, part of a Seneca Valley districtwide effort she organized for her gifted program project. Seb Foltz/Butler Eagle

JACKSON TWP — An eighth-grader’s idea in a gifted education class at Ryan Gloyer Middle School resulted in nearly 7,000 nonperishable food items for distribution to the needy in Southwestern Butler County.

Lilia Maschmeier, 13, said her class took a deep dive into food waste during the class curriculum “think bigger.”

Lilia decided to take on a project to hold a food drive among the students and staff at the middle school, which educates students in seventh and eighth grades in the Seneca Valley School District.

With Lilia at the helm, about 90 students in the gifted education program collected 350 nonperishable food items for the Help Your Neighbor food pantry at Victory Family Church in Cranberry Township.

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