As the temperature outside is getting colder, and the holiday season rolls around, Stockbridge High School is starting to take action. This time of year is one of the most difficult times for families from the frigid temperatures to the sky-high prices in the grocery stores. Since the holidays are a time of giving, the Stockbridge High School leadership class started running their annual Thanksgiving food drive to support their community. U.S. History teacher and leadership advisor, Corey Baird, believes supporting the community is essential. The school food drive was originally started by Debbie Overby in 1990 with the help of the student council.
“Community outreach started back in the early 1980s. Many people around here lost their jobs in the auto industry in the 70s and 80s. A lot of people in Stockbridge were on assistance so they set up outreach to try to help people through that,” Baird said. Later on, Baird continued the yearly tradition when he started his leadership class. “ We donate a lot, and if we weren’t a part of it, they wouldn’t have stuff for me before Thanksgiving.”
While Baird oversees the class’s food drive, the students are the ones doing the heavy lifting. Second-year leadership student, Finn Coffman, saw firsthand how much the school is helping the food drive when he helped gather the food and take it to the Stockbridge Outreach Center last year.
“I think the school food drive has a bigger impact than students think,” Coffman said. “I remember last year in Baird’s class, we had a lot of food to take to outreach, and it surprised me. Most of the time I thought that a lot of people ignored it, and I’ve seen teachers offer extra credit to students who bring in food, trying to increase participation.”
Similarly, Stockbridge School principal, Jeff Trapp, loves that his school is doing its part to help the community.
“This is a great way for our school to give back to our supportive community,” Trapp said. “The food drive is a major contributor to our Community Wide Thanksgiving Dinner and is supported by Stockbridge Community Outreach.”
Participating in the food drive not only allows students to take part in helping the community, but it allows those families who might be struggling, to experience the holiday joy of sitting around the dinner table.
However, while the school is supplying the food, the Stockbridge Community Outreach Center is getting it to the family. Service program director, Gwen Reid, works directly with the school’s leadership students during the food drive.
“We are so very thankful for the support of the high school food drive. We have come to rely on it as it serves both our Thanksgiving Food Basket and our Christmas Food Basket,” Reid said. “Last year, the Outreach provided meals for 102 families at Thanksgiving and 128 at Christmas. The meals include a turkey at Thanksgiving and a ham at Christmas along with a bag of canned goods to make a full holiday spread. Usually, this includes everything to make sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, fruit-jello salad, cranberries, cornbread, and pumpkin pie,” Reid said.
Stockbridge is all about supporting the community and helping others. But if you want to do more, many places are currently asking for donations ranging from food to winter clothing, even donating your time to senior citizens or war veterans who want to talk. It’s the season of giving, find something that you can give the community.
