This year’s canned food drive came to an end on Nov. 22 with great success, collecting two times more food than last year, Drew Duffy, Student Body President, said. All food donations collected went to Onward House and the Northfield Township Food Pantry, Duffy explained. 

The canned food drive amassed $3,000 in monetary donations and three full school buses worth of food, which Mark Maranto, Assistant Principal of Student Activities, estimates to be about 40,000 donations. 

“South [has] the biggest food drive the [Northfield Township Food Pantry has]  all year, so [South’s donations]  takes them all the way from Thanksgiving to after the new year,” Maranto said.

The Student Council made adjustments this year to collect more food, such as setting up donation stands outside of numerous Jewel Osco locations throughout Glenview and asking for donations from leaving customers two days instead of one, Duffy said. Student Council members also spread out and papered their areas with flyers in an effort to draw donations, Maranto said.

“We made a real concerted effort to leverage the ways in which we gather, not just from the school, but all of the community,” Maranto said. 

To reduce the stress of having a specific goal set for the food drive and strenuously counting all the cans, a new strategy emerged in recent years, Maranto said. To encourage students themselves to donate to the food drive, Student Council implemented club competitions to boost a competitive spirit between students to donate more, Maranto said.  Duffy reports this year’s club involvement was higher than usual.

“Club participation was very strong this year. It is great to see club leaders and sponsors encouraging their members to contribute so much,” Duffy said

Looking forward to next year, Maranto hopes to set up donation stands around more stores and find greater rewards for clubs that win donation competitions, as well as further spreading awareness of the drive throughout Glenview.

Maranto expressed his gratitude to the members of Student Council and all students, and holds high hopes for next year’s canned food drive. 

“Students have done an awesome job with it, they’re all in,” Maranto said.