Fast on the heels of their third food drive for St. Lucian hurricane victims—devastated by 2010’s Hurricane Tomas—the young teens of the Manor School’s Jr. Ranch Cadets are once again helping their neighbors, collecting food outside St. Croix groceries once again this weekend.

This Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the cadets will be outside Plaza Extra East, Plaza Extra West and Food Town supermarkets with barrels to collect canned goods and dry nonperishable food items.

Cadets will be manning the barrels from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

The past food drives have done well, according to a statement from the program’s directors. Over the weekend of Feb. 12, the cadets collected over $3,000 worth of food, which filled up half a 20-foot cargo container. This time they hope to fill it up and send it off to St. Lucia.

Jr. Ranch is a nonprofit program aimed at children 12-16 years old which provides in-school and after-school academic support, comprehensive counseling to cadets and families, and a behavioral modification program based on military protocol – similar to the Jr. ROTC model.

Since starting at the Manor School in 2009, the program has worked to employ a balanced approach that teaches youth to connect consequences to their behavior and the choices that they make.

For more information on the drive, contact program officials at 772-0088.