The politicians have put away their signs for another November, but  sixth graders at Edgecomb Eddy School have just begun to campaign. They've got many of the things a cause needs to succeed: attention-getting slogans, solid guidance, an attainable goal and a lot of enthusiasm.

The class is collecting goods to donate to the Boothbay Region Food Pantry, which serves Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Edgecomb and Southport.

Decorated boxes around the school are starting to get heavy with cans and other items; however, the students and their school counselor Madeline Olney, who is helping with the project, have a 200-item goal they would like to meet and maybe even beat.

“This really means something,” sixth grader Alex Hibbard said of the food drive. “It's giving people something that they don't have.”

Classmate Emily Harris said the project has gotten her thinking more about the problem of hunger.

“I thought a little about it before, but it's really important,” Harris said. Her message to others: “I would ask them to give, especially for the kids, because they really need it.”

Anyone with goods to donate can drop them off at the school on Route 27 on a school day, from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., or call 207-882-5515 to make arrangements.

Suggested items include hot and cold cereals; canned fruits, vegetables, chili, soups, stews, beans and tuna; and crackers, pastas and peanut butter.

The students' effort is well-timed. Twenty-eight percent more people used the pantry in October 2012 than in the same month last year, pantry co-president Fleet Davies said.

“So we very much appreciate and look forward to anything the kids can do,” Davies said. “It's such a wonderful thing, for the kids to want to help others.

“That's a wonderful life lesson,” he said.

Developing the students' sense of social responsibility is one of Olney's aims with the project, although she's finding they already have a good base to build from. She has observed that in the “good discussions” they've been having, and the fact the students gave up recess time to work on the boxes and posters, she said.

“They're so motivated and so willing,” she said. “I'm so proud of them.”

To add to their understanding of hunger and other problems of poverty, Olney read them Monica Gunning's picture book, “A Shelter in Our Car,” about a homeless family.

Another book, the popular young adult novel “The Hunger Games,” inspired some of the food drive's slogans, such as “Hunger is not a game.” Another clever slogan makes a pun of the word “can,” as in “We 'can' do it,” and even substitutes a picture of a can for that word on a poster.

The school has done several projects in recent years, benefiting area causes and helping students learn compassion, Olney said. “And that's important because we need to understand how to treat people.

“You do something because it's the right thing, and not because you get something from it,” she said.