In order to combat hunger in San Mateo County, Aragon Leadership organized a canned food drive to benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank. The drive, titled the “Hunger Games” after the book trilogy by Suzanne Collins, started with the home football game versus Terra Nova on Oct. 26 and ended on Nov. 9. Bringing a can of food for the drive not only gave participants one dollar off football game admission, but also allowed students to earn spirit points for their class.
Teacher Katherine Ward, who pitched the “Hunger Game” theme, says, “We are always looking at ways to get students to participate in events that bring them together and help them get to know each other. [The Hunger Game] was just a way to take an event that people would normally go to and use that as an opportunity for them to also contribute to a cause.”
Michelle Berg, the New Media and Events Manager for Second Harvest Food Bank, says, “A large percentage of our food drive donations come from youth groups, and these cans, boxes and other non-perishables are truly gifts for our neighbors in need. Donations from school drives allow us to create balanced menus for local families.”
Junior Melissa Spaulding, who donated food at the Terra Nova game, says, “It’s a great way to get people motivated to help others. Not only is it the right thing to do, you also gain from it by receiving spirit points and a reduced admission price.”
Concerning the spirit point process, Dwyer explains, “Each class brings 250 cans to get 100 spirit points. If they raise under that amount, they get negative 500 spirit points, and then for every extra can brought past 250 cans, you get…one point…We wanted to set the bar low to make sure that everyone can reach that limit and bring extra cans. But it’s more like if we were way off then we will probably lower it or raise it depending.”
In an effort to collect as much food as possible for Second Harvest, the Terra Nova community was also invited to participate. Ward says, “Flyers were sent to Terra Nova saying that the Aragon Dons invited them to the Hunger Game, and that if their spectators brought a can that they would also get in for a dollar off. Any parent from Terra Nova that is coming to watch their student can get in for one dollar off if they also bring a can, because the point here is that we want Second Harvest to win, and we want to end the hunger crisis in San Mateo County. It doesn’t really matter whether it’s just Aragon who’s doing that, or whether it’s the entire community.”
Senior Carly Olson, who worked for Service Commission at the football game agrees, saying “Doing cans at the football game is a good idea, so parents can have a chance to bring cans too. It’s a good way to make it more public.”
