Dec. 16—Bundled up in puffy winter jackets to ward off the chill of the early evening, three little boys crowded around a push-cart in the parking lot outside of Butterfly Ridge Elementary School on Wednesday.

On the cart sat a huge cardboard box, packed full with boxes of breakfast cereal, aluminum cans of orange juice, toothbrushes and pasta — all supplies Aishah Love needs to keep her boys well-fed and cared for.

The pandemic has been hard on her family, but on Wednesday, Love was more interested in talking about the blessings they've encountered over the past two years than the challenges. An enormous source of these blessings for Love, her son and her two grand-nephews has been Butterfly Ridge — her new employer and the children's school.

"This is the best school," said Love, who proudly holds the title of "lunch lady" at Butterfly Ridge. "They do things to help families. They pay it forward."

Wednesday evening marked Butterfly Ridge's second time distributing food items and other supplies to families in the community. As the sun set overhead, staff members at the elementary school helped children and their parents navigate a maze of folding tables heaping with cans of beans, soap, hand sanitizer and enough laundry detergent to keep an entire army clean.

The event was organized by Kelli Fink, who joined Butterfly Ridge as a community liaison just nine weeks ago. It didn't take long for her to recognize the need at the school, where a large percentage of children receive free or reduced-cost school lunches.

Fink gets emotional when she thinks about the generosity of the charitable organizations and families in the community who have supported the school's students. One of Butterfly Ridge's biggest sponsors currently — Darnestown Presbyterian Church — is located nearly 30 miles away in Gaithersburg.

"Kids don't learn when they're hungry. They just don't," Fink said. "If you can eliminate that part, it gives everybody the chance to start on the same playing field."

Later, Fink split open a cardboard box donated to the event by the Frederick Rescue Mission to show off the array of cereal it held. There were Frosted Flakes, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Chex — no generic, store-brand labels, Fink proudly pointed out.

"It's the good stuff," she said. "You know what I mean?"

At the school's last distribution, which took place Nov. 17, some 220 children took home supplies. On Wednesday, not even an hour had passed before 175 families had stopped by the school.

Not all had children enrolled at Butterfly Ridge. Fink had also invited the families of students at the nearby Hillcrest Elementary School to come to the distribution. She and her colleagues have a mindset of "the more, the merrier," Fink said. Danelle Locke, an inclusive pre-K teacher stationed at Butterfly Ridge who serves students from all over the county, mentioned having seen other families at the distribution who live beyond the area nearby.

A few feet away, a little boy ran up to Mary Bryant — a counselor at Butterfly Ridge — to give her a hug. Bryant was manning a table stacked with cans of beans and another with canned peaches and hand sanitizer.

"A lot of our students have limited resources," she said, "so if we can help them with groceries, then it gives them more money for clothing or a doctor's visit or whatever else it is that they need."

Love has only been working at Butterfly Ridge since August, but she already adores her job. Students tell her she's the best lunch lady they've ever had. And if her boys ever get in trouble, their teachers know to send them right down to the cafeteria for her to give them a talking to.

Beyond that, though, the school has already given so much to her family. Their house is located a bit closer to Waverley Elementary School, Love said, but she's grateful her kids were sent to Butterfly Ridge.

"It's wonderful," she said.

Follow Angela Roberts on Twitter: @24_angier

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