PHOTO GALLERY: Gentry students collect peanut butter, raise money for Buddy Pack program

October 24, 2012 | 3:56 p.m. CDT

Gentry Middle School students participated in a fundraiser to collect 2,000 jars of peanut butter to donate to the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri. The peanut butter jars will be used in the food bank's Buddy Pack program, which supplies food for kids who don't have enough food at home.

Jackson Greer, left, and Erin Kravchick load carts with almost 1,100 discounted jars of peanut butter from Hy-Vee at Gentry Middle School on Thursday. The fundraiser is an annual event organized by Gentry science teacher Dean Klempke to donate jars of peanut butter to the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri for their Buddy Pack program. The program provides supplemental foods for students that qualify for free or reduced-price school meals. | Kile Brewer

Michael Gard, left, and Henry Utley run to catch up with Ali Woods to unload a cart of peanut butter. The students have gathered more than 2,100 jars so far, with funds coming from donations and the students' personal earnings from things such as mowing lawns and walking dogs. | Kile Brewer

Science teacher Dean Klempke loads peanut butter onto carts at Gentry Middle School. Klempke has organized a student fundraiser to gather 2,000 jars of peanut butter for the Food Bank for Central and Northeast Missouri's Buddy Pack program. Klempke said he would shave his head live on KOMU/NBC if students met the goal. | Kile Brewer

Jars of peanut butter purchased from Hy-Vee sit in Gentry Middle School as part of science teacher Dean Klempke's Buddy Packs fundraiser. So far, Klempke and his student have collected more than 2,100 jars of peanut butter. | Kile Brewer