Can you Drive?
Image courtesy of Union Church
By ELINA MRAZ ‘21
Every year, the Student Governing Assembly (SGA) holds a can drive for the student body and faculty. This year, cans were collected by grade as a competition to win three breakfast assemblies. Because approximately half of the student body lives on campus, it is difficult for boarders to bring in non-perishable items. To compensate, the SGA sold cans and non-perishable items in the Stu this year for $1 each, which increased participation tremendously.
All the cans are donated to the Milton Food Pantry, which services local families in need. They are an organization “whose mission is to provide food assistance to eligible Milton residents. [They] support many individuals and families who have been affected by illness and economic issues. [They] also conduct programs to increase community awareness about the issues of hunger, malnutrition and poverty in our midst.” Historically, the food pantry receives lots of support around Thanksgiving and the winter holidays because all four Milton public elementary schools hold a food drive. The pantry struggles to meet the demands of families in the later winter months and therefore, in 2012, the SGA decided to run the can drive at this time of the year to help out.
Students across grades say that they love giving back to the community through the Can Drive. Beck Kendig ‘20, one of the head monitors and a member of the SGA, stated, “I do feel compelled to participate in the can drive, in a good way. As head monitors, Olivia and I, along with the rest of the SGA, participate mostly by organizing and running the event. Of course, we are also compelled to donate ourselves. But I think everyone should feel compelled to donate. Providing food security to those struggling is more than worthy of the dollar it costs to buy and donate a can.”
While many feel compelled to donate cans, some find it is difficult to remember during the crazy school day. Eleni Mazareas, one of the Class II reps, feels as though she has had to help motivate the grade to bring in cans: “We had negative cans to begin with, and also our class is a little reluctant to volunteer and jump in with doing things (exhibit A: assembly), so we needed a little extra push to bring in cans. But I don’t think we need [to force people] anymore because everyone’s been doing a good job with donating!” As a class rep, Eleni does feel inclined to participate, but she says she definitely would have tried her best to donate money regardless of her position on the SGA.
Faculty are also involved in this event. Ms. Lillis, a biology teacher, commented, “I think the drive is a fantastic idea, and every year I contribute because I know we are so fortunate and it's important to help others in concrete ways and not just with money. For me, food is a way of really showing caring in my family, with family recipes and meals’ being incredibly important to me.” Ms. Geyling-Moore, who runs Community Engagement, added, “I've encouraged my advisory to contribute, and I suppose [the Can Drive] being part of the class competition is another way to increase giving.” She states that she does feel compelled to participate “as it's a community-wide effort, and I know how much the Milton Food Pantry benefits many families in our town.”
Ms. Lillis mentioned that “the numbers this year have been embarrassingly low and worth thinking hard about. February is a tough time, with people feeling tired, getting sick, or being stretched thin, and this [situation] makes it harder to do the things beyond just keeping your head above water. Still not a good reason but a possible explanation for low turnout.”
There are some suggestions for how to better encourage our school community to donate. Beck stated that “I think the Can Drive would be more effective if we worked more closely with the Milton Food Pantry in the weeks leading up to the final donation. If we knew what foods were in greater need, we could include another layer to the class contest. A can of this could be worth however many points more than a can of that. By prioritizing what the food pantry needs most, we could better serve the community and make the event a bit more fun.” Nina Katherisan (Class II) commented that there should be an advisory period dedicated to going out and buying cans. Ms. Lillis says that she had cans on her desk for a while but did not remember to bring them with her when heading to the Stu. Therefore, she recommends possibly setting up satellite sites for turning in the cans. Ms. Geyling-Moore added that it would be beneficial “for SGA reps to speak about specific stats/stories of people/families who rely on the Food Pantry and why.”
Perhaps some of these suggestions will be implemented next year to better aid the Milton Food Pantry. While we are often caught up in our own busy lives at school, it is important to support the larger community to which we belong.