Holiday Food Drive at Sydenham High School

Julie Druker | Dec 16, 2015

Members of the student council at Sydenham High School have been busy heading up a holiday food drive at the school to support the South Frontenac Food Bank. Four members of the student council, including co-presidents, Will Sanderson and Annie Preston, and ministers of outreach and charity, Rachel Don and Morgan Arthur, have been accepting food donations in a number of large gift-wrapped boxes in the school's main foyer. To date, close to 600 items have been collected and in an effort to encourage as many donations as possible, the school's four colour house teams entered into a competition to see who could make the most donations. To further encourage donations, individual students received a ballot for every three donations they gave, which they can enter into a raffle that will take place on December 17. The winner will take home a Sydenham Swag Bag valued at $45.

That same day the students will be delivering the food directly to the food bank. Co-president Sanderson said that one of the aims of the drive is also to raise awareness about issues of local poverty and hunger. With that in mind, Rachel Don and Morgan Arthur made numerous announcements citing facts about hunger and poverty, and individual grade reps also spoke to individual classrooms about these issues. As well, a number of posters were hung throughout the school. The four student council members also spoke every morning to arriving students about local poverty issues.

In April, 2016, the students at the school will be focusing their efforts on global poverty issues and will be holding their 30-Hour Famine event, which will coincide with a second school-wide food drive. Hats off to the students of SHS who have demonstrated that everyone can make a difference in the lives of local residents in need.

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