Onion theft brings tears to children's eyes
WATERVILLE, Maine - It was supposed to be a lesson in growing your own food, healthy eating and helping the less fortunate. Instead, a group of Maine fifth-graders also got a harsher lesson.
When students at the Albert S. Hall School in Waterville went out last week to harvest the yellow onions planted last spring, they found that all 100 of them had been stolen.
Student Ashley Harwood called the theft "kind of depressing." Classmate Hannah Hall said the students were sad.
"This was different because this was the first time some of the produce was going to go to the homeless shelter," teacher Mary Dunn told CBS affiliate WGME.
The rest was headed to the cafeteria to be used in school lunches, thanks to a program cultivated by Dunn and supported by the community, over the past five years.
"They need to know where their food's coming from and what they're eating," Dunn said.
The teacher is turning her attention to showing the kids how to make the best of a bad situation when things don't go as planned.
"Some life lessons," she told the station. "We got a phone call this morning from a man in Liberty, who's donating onions. It means the homeless shelter will get some onions."
Tears of happiness?