We donate thousands of nonperishable food items yearly to the Student Hunger Drive, but many students do not know where their food goes after putting their items in donation boxes. After the donation, Spartan Assembly packages and transports the collected items to the River Bend Foodbank. “We try hard to keep the food from the hunger drive in the area. Our job is to assist the schools in distributing the food across the pantries,” stated Director of Operations, Jeff DeYoung. There are about 200 food banks nationally, which house millions of nonperishable items to be transported to food pantries. These food pantries then cater to the needs of the people in the area.

Students should be cognizant of the items they are bringing in; where some nonperishable foods are convenient to collect, they are not always ideal for constant meals. Spartan assembly member, Haley Germain, says, “Although it’s fun competition against other schools, it is also important to remember that the food all ends up going to the same place: families and kids in need.” Students are encouraged to bring in not only high quantity, but high quality food to provide meals for others in need. All donations are eagerly accepted, but remember to bring food that you would want to eat for a meal and not just items that are convenient to buy.

This year’s Student Hunger Drive theme is Spartan Survivor! You can help your favorite teachers advance each week by bringing in cans. “It’s very exciting and rewarding to participate in donating! Also, the hunger drive is an amazing organization to work with,” says Natalie Murphy, Spartan Assembly member. Our school’s goal is to donate 60,000 pounds of food to people in need.