For the third year in a row, a group of seventh-grade boys at North Royalton Middle School collected 2,400 food items for the local food bank through their annual neighborhood food drive. The students went door-to-door distributing collection bags and then returned to gather the donated cans and non-perishable items.
Despite the hard work, the students reported positive feelings. Anderson Ross who has participated for two years explained, "I want to do the food drive through high school to make sure I help a lot of people."
As three-year participant Wesley Beck said, "I wanted to be a part of this because when I think of all of the needy children out there, I realize some of them don't have anything to eat, so giving them a moment to have something to eat makes me feel good."
“As one of the new kids this year, I really thought that the idea of doing all this was amazing,” said Adam Emch. “I was happy that I could be a part of it and enjoyed helping the people who don't have all the resources we need. I believe even if it was a lot of work passing out the fliers and collecting the cans, it was all worth it because it will go to helping people.”
The food drive is an ongoing initiative led by the students, who expressed a desire to help families in need. As Carson Evangelista, one of the four original students who began this drive, explained, "While I was delivering flyers and collecting cans, I felt happy because when we were collecting the cans I could see how much we were giving to the community. When I was delivering flyers, I was hoping that people would notice the fliers and also want to spread the good cause by donating cans.” Benjamin Wright, who was the original plan’s initiator and has participated for three years as well, added, "I felt like I was making a very big impact on the community and myself. I also felt warm and happy seeing all my friends, including my sister, helping me and running around.”
The students' dedication to this community service project reflects their commitment to making a positive impact. All the boys plan on continuing to help with this canned food drive next year because they want to set an example for the community and their peers. As three-year veteran JR Minch stated, "I chose to continue this act because I wanted to help families in need and keep the food drive going."
