Safety precautions prompt changes to annual canned food drive
Helping Hands: Dropping off donations, members of the Glenview community show support for South’s canned food drive. All items can be dropped off at the front entrance of the school.
November 20, 2020
Many community events have been put on pause or canceled altogether due to the pandemic, however, South’s Student Council is still holding one event, the fall food drive, which will end Nov. 24.
People who want to donate food, but don’t want to come to school, are able to leave their donations out on their porch during the drive. Those contributions will then be picked up by Student Council, Mark Maranto, assistant principal of student activities, said.
“We’ve had to pivot to make [the food drive] work,” Maranto said. “Two big ways [we have] are online donations and community pickups and drop-offs.”
Senior Danny Hood, student body president, explained that this year canned goods can be dropped off at South’s front entrance.
In an online auction, various items that have been donated by businesses around Glenview will be auctioned off Hood said.
“The online auction will occur on an online platform,” Hood said. “People will be able to bid cans on that website and then at the end of the time scheduled, the top bidder will win.”
In previous years, the canned food drive was accompanied by a teachers-versus-students basketball game, in which the admission price was a can of food. Senior Olivia DeMattia, student council vice president, explained that this close contact event would be replaced this year.
The fundraising event occurred on three days, one for seniors on Nov. 9, one for juniors on Nov. 10, and one for freshmen and sophomores on Nov 11, Demattia explained. Students were able to sign up with up to six friends to paint a parking spot at South.
“You [could] rent a parking space by bringing in cans or bringing five dollars, all the money and donations [went] to the canned food drive,” DeMattia said. “[It was] a great way to mix a fun community event along with helping fundraise for the food drives.”
Despite the pandemic, Hood, Maranto and DeMattia all expect the food drive to raise just as much—if not more—than it has in previous years.
“I think people are trying to bring the community together in so many more ways than ever before,” Demattia said. “I think this is just another aspect that will play into that.”
