Shoppers at the Scott Annex Commissary at the Portsmouth Shipyard on Thursday, Dec. 13, were surprised to find a crowd celebrating in the produce section. The crowd was comprised of six Toras Chaim students, four Toras Chaim parents, a vendor for General Mills products, a representative of Box Tops for Education from Minnesota, the commissary managers and other commissary personnel.
The story of why the group was gathered there began in July, when the school received a letter from Box Tops detailing a program in which schools and commissaries team up to win Box Tops. Hillary Kleinman and Ken Wilson approached local commissaries to ask for their support. The Scott Annex Commissary at the Portsmouth Shipyard agreed to take on this project. Doug Buntley, manager of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard commissary and Carol Volterman, grocery manager, put a lot of time into filing the applications, which resulted in Toras Chaim receiving a certificate for 10,000 Box Tops, which translates into $1,000 for the school.
Presentation participants included Commander Adam and Eve Goldberg, students Josh Berman, Mati Loiterman, Moshe Rothman, Minna Haber, Ely Haber and Esti Kleinman. Hillary Kleinman accepted the certificate on behalf of Toras Chaim and the students and parents thanked everyone involved.