As the holiday season approaches, students have taken it upon themselves to bring in money and edible goods for those less fortunate in the city. Students that bring 10 canned goods and a three dollar donation receive a t-shirt. The drive ends Monday, the 21st.
The money raised goes towards buying children at Faith Mission Christmas presents, and the canned goods brought in goes to the Mission as well.
Last year, there was not a lot of money or canned goods brought in. To change that, an incentive was added.
Pocket t-shirts are being given to those students who bring the three dollars. This was a mechanism used to raise more money and bring in more goods.
“The administrators stressed that teachers cannot give extra credit for students who bring in food,” librarian Sally George Mroczkowski said. As a result, the student council members had to think of an alternative way to market the drive. Ultimately, they came up with the decision to sell the t-shirts. When it came to deciding who would handle the drive, the students also had to think of a way to determine such.
“We had class competitions,” Mroczkowski said. These competitions amongst the freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior classes included raising money in order to sell the t-shirts for a very low price.
“The class officers got together and sold adds in order for the t-shirts to sell cheaply,” Mroczkowski said. The class that garnished the most money became responsible for the drive.
The winning class wound up being the seniors, whose English teachers have been encouraging them to donate to the food drive. Any students from any grade can bring in goods, however.
The food drive has been a big success over the years, and has been going on for years.
“It’s more necessary now, than ever before because of the economy.” Mroczkowski said.