Last month, StuCo ran their annual Care and Share Harvest of Love food drive. Nonperishable food items and money donations were collected from every teacher’s 8th period class for several weeks. This year, over 56,000 lbs of food were raised. This was from $5100 and 4000 lbs of physical food. From money donations, Care and Share is able to purchase 10 lbs of food per $1.
Care and Share is a local food bank that provides food to be distributed throughout the community. There are 27,000 food insecure teens and children within El Paso County. Food insecurity is defined as having unreliable and inconsistent access to food.
“The food and monetary donations we collect goes to our local Care and Share warehouse in El Paso County to help all food insecure families in our region,” says Ms. Cline, the head of student council. “Any family needing assistance can access Care and Share as a food and nutrition resource. However, Palmer Student Council also does a full partnership with our Community Liaison to provide food for the Winter Break in December.”
This year, the overall winner was Mr. Lewis with 17,889.3 lbs of food raised. Mr. Hienton’s 8th period class came in first place, Hook’s 8th period class came in second place, and coming in 3rd place is Smith’s 8th period. 1st place raised 8,214 lbs of food, 2nd place raised 3,464.81 lbs of food, while 3rd place raised 1,486.1 lbs of food. These four teachers accounted for just under 60% of the total earnings. To encourage students to donate, the top 3 classes each earn a different reward.
One teacher at Palmer is infamous for getting students to donate. Although Mr. Lewis does not have an 8th period he still manages to win frequently. This year he was ranked top in the school by getting each of his classes to donate, even if it’s just a few cents, although he did not take a rank.
When Mr. Lewis thinks about the number of food-insecure families in the county, he feels awful that there are so many people lacking something so necessary. He claims that the best way to motivate his students to donate is by talking about the problem often and helping them see that they can be part of the solution. On a lighter note, he adds, “The truth is, I don’t encourage, I bully.”
Palmer has always had remarkable success when it comes to Harvest of Love. Last year, Palmer raised the most food in all District 11 schools with 61,082 lbs of food. This total was from $4,590.01 and 1,124 lbs of physical food.
Access to food is extremely important, especially for growing children. It is crucial for those with access to these resources to share with those less fortunate. Palmer High School is determined to help those in need and the impact will continue to be seen throughout the community.
