Granton NHS conducting first holiday food drive
The holidays are always a time of year when it is important to remember the needs of those less fortunate and to offer assistance where one can. During the next two weeks, the Granton National Honor Society (NHA) will be holding a food drive to provide food to families in the area during the holiday season.
The After Thanksgiving Food Drive kicked off on Dec. 5 and will run until Dec. 19. According to NHS advisor Olyvia Pierce, this is the first year that the Granton NHS club is holding such a drive, as the group works to have more involvement in the local community.
“This is the first year that the NHS is doing a food drive,” she said. “We thought it would be a good drive for our members to get involved with and really help them to motivate our school to donate to the community.”
Since the start of this school year, Pierce said the NHS has been working on a different community-related project each month. The ideas for each project come from the NHS members themselves as they learn about the community and what needs are out there.
“My co-adviser Ms. (Autumn) Lloyd and I decided that we wanted the NHS to be extremely community based,” she said. “We have been asking our students who are involved what kinds of things they would like to do for the community. Our goal is to do a drive or volunteer in our community once a month. This month happened to be a food drive. We know that not everyone in our community can afford food and sometimes a little support goes a long way.”
During the next two weeks, the different grades at the Granton Area School District will be collecting non-perishable food items and monetary donations that will be given to the Clark County Food Pantry at the end of the drive. Community members are also being encouraged to donate by dropping items off at the high school office.
“We have put up flyers throughout the school, and have had our members go to every classroom to talk about the drive,” said Pierce. “Each classroom has a bucket in which to donate their items and each student was given a flyer with the items that are in need at this time of year. If the public would like to drop off items we will have a bin in the Middle School/High School office as well. We have also ensured that this food drive has been posted on all of Granton’s social media accounts. We will be donating part of the food to a family in need, and the rest will go to the Clark County Food Pantry.”
By helping out the community with events such as the After Thanksgiving Food Drive, Pierce said the NHS members learn the importance of getting involved with the community at large and doing something positive for others.
“Events like these are very important,” she said. “It helps our members learn about their community, and helps them to understand the needs of their community as well. We try to do a different community activity every month. I hope they learn that being involved in the community and helping out is a great feeling. It is rewarding to be a part of something that helps others and can really have an impact on a community.”
The Granton NHS will be accepting non-perishable food item donations until Dec. 19. Items that can be donated to the drive include boxed foods, canned foods, ramen noodles, dry goods, cereal, oatmeal, breakfast items, peanut butter, jelly, applesauce, canned chicken, canned tuna, cooking oil, crackers, dried herbs, spices, meals in a box, nuts, powdered milk, soups, baby foods and juices.
