For almost 30 years, Vallivue High School and its students have helped better their community by participating in the Thanksgiving Food Drive. Continuing the tradition of giving, this year’s food drive will be ongoing from November 6-17.

Each day, students will bring food donations to their first period classes and take them to room 125 within the first ten minutes of class. Donations are worth a certain amount of points based on their nutritional and monetary value. Whatever classes accumulate the most points by the end of the food drive will have the pride of knowing they helped their community. They will also attain the sweet victory of receiving donuts and juice after returning from Thanksgiving Break.

Organizing the food drive is much more than going to classrooms and asking students to donate. Putting in hours of work to organize the event, the National Honor Society at our school is dedicated to getting this food into the hands of those who need it most. Each year, three to four families experiencing food insecurity or homelessness are given a box with a full month’s worth of pantry supplies, along with a Thanksgiving dinner. 

The second destination for the donations is Hope House, a long-term care home for children who have experienced adverse situations and bounced from home to home. Being a non-profit organization, Hope House receives no federal funding. As one can imagine this makes the difficult job of caring for many kids exponentially difficult, which is why organizations such as this one rely on a generous and kind community.

Senior and colorguard captain, Brooke Bourdon, prides herself in helping her community by being a part of NHS. Last year she made posters advertising the food drive, motivated students to donate, counted the supplies and helped organize it. Planning to do the same this year, it is clear she finds this an important thing to participate in: “The food drive is very significant, because not only are we bringing joy to families in need, it also makes us feel good about the service we provided in order to make these families smile.”

Senior Chloe Matus’s favorite aspects of the food drive are being able to see the people she is helping and knowing that she is making a difference, and second is that she loves seeing the school come together as one and participate in a great cause. This year she plans to take a “big lead in the food drive.” Being in charge of getting classroom boxes and labeling them, morning drop off, making sure food gets counted, and getting the boxes back to their first period teachers are some of the vital responsibilities she’ll be taking on this year.

Students make up much of the labor that goes into making this food drive happen, but NHS advisors are just as important to the drive, as they make sure things go smoothly and all parts of the operation have enough people working on them. English teacher Ms. McDermott is also one of the many dedicated advisors in Vallivue’s NHS chapter. 

Waking up early for grocery shopping, as someone who isn’t a morning person, becomes easier for McDermott when she remembers how much even one box of food can make in someone’s home. The look of immense gratitude, once people receive the food, is one of the most rewarding things one can experience.

The Food Drive is an important activity and NHS could use all the help they can get! If you want to drop off donations at the school, please bring them no later than Wednesday, Nov. 15. You can also donate online at https://vhsfooddrive.maxgiving.bid/donations or at the bookkeeping window.