Olympia High School’s tradition of the canned food drive is ready to help once again, with the intention of raising awareness of food insecurity and building a stronger community.
Every year, OHS provides the Thurston County Food Bank with thousands of cans, with students’ main motivation being the donut party for the winning class. This year, teachers and staff at OHS are striving to address the issue of food scarcity within the community while staying sensitive when promoting the donation of goods.
OHS’ ASB runs the canned food drive and is committed to beating last year’s donation of 133,960 cans. ASB Treasurer Faith Smith manages the collection of cans and money and expressed the fulfillment of “being a part of something providing food and security […] and bringing awareness.”
Food insecurity is a significant problem in today’s society, especially with “an estimated 2.4 million SNAP recipients losing benefits,” based on CBS News data. According to the nationwide organization Feeding America, “47 million people, including 13 million children, experience food insecurity annually.” The canned food drive is derived from feelings of empathy and consideration for others in cultivating a unified community.
This year, OHS is also providing the collected donations to the program All Kids Win “because Thurston County Food Bank only makes dinners for elementary students, so we want to support high school and middle schoolers as well,” Smith said.
Families 4 Families, the new club at OHS, partnered with ASB to address the current food cutbacks and advertised for the canned food drive at Bearzaar where they raised over $1,400 and filled five large boxes with food, with the motivation of strengthening the community. “I really believe that everyone should have equal access to all types of comfort, but especially basic needs such as food and hygiene items,” said F4F’s President Celia Brockman.
With the canned food drive, F4F’s mission to support families within the community will be achieved by supplying access to food resources to those in need. “My heart hurts when I see people who can’t afford or don’t have access to things like food, so just providing those resources for people, as well as students, is really important to me,” Brockman said.
Through the ambition of raising more cans than last year, the ultimate goal is “to help as many families in our own community as possible,” Smith said. The canned food drive has been a great success, and this year, Bears intend to make a strong impact at OHS and within the community.