Sixth-grade boys at North Royalton Middle School once again felt called to organize a neighborhood canned food drive this Thanksgiving season. In just one week's time, the students were able to collect more than 2,500 canned food items for the less fortunate in their community. This is the second year these students have collected canned food.
The food drive was conducted as a contest among the students. They spent time handing out flyers throughout their neighborhoods and then returned to collect any donated items.
"It felt very good seeing how many fliers we had put out in not many days," said student Logan Hanzel.
Fellow student Anderson Ross echoed this sentiment saying, "While delivering I felt happy and ready to start. I knew the food drive was coming up and I wanted to have that feeling of doing something nice for people who need it."
The students reported feeling proud of their efforts and the positive impact they were making. "I felt proud of doing what I was doing and I was having fun," said Benjamin Wright. James Minch added, "It was fun to be with my friends and do something that was going to make a positive impact on the community."
After collecting the donations and seeing the final tally, the students expressed joy. "I felt happy because we picked up more than last year, and we could help more people. I was pretty proud of myself and my friends," remarked Carson Evangelista.
Wesley Beck was shocked by the volume collected stating, "I was like oh my gosh that’s a lot of boxes. It felt good to collect all that food for the food bank."
The food drive was a resounding success, with the students already looking ahead to continue the tradition next year. As Benjamin Wright stated, "I do plan on continuing this act all the way up to high school. Why? Because I love doing things for the people who don't have much and people who need food. I love doing good things."
As an entire school through the Student Council, more than 6,000 cans were donated.