National Honor Society (NHS) holds the Gleaners Food Drive annually and has had sizable success. However, spearheading the NHS’s food drive committee this year was Kelsey Dunn, and along with other members, the food drive not only surpassed but raised over double of the $12,000 raised last year. According to Dunn, the final count this year is $27,927.
To assist in generating donations, there was a contest held against teachers’ first-hour classes. For first place, students would get out of their first hour for a day, second place would get the therapy dogs for the day and third would get donuts. However, this didn’t distract the teachers and students from the campaign’s real purpose.
As pointed out by Dunn, one out of seven people have or are in some sort of food insecurity. This fact means that nearly everyone at Brighton High School knows or is friends with someone who is food insecure.
Mr. Delaney, who raised the most money and ultimately won the contest, was excited to participate in helping local families. Mr. Delaney said that when he was in high school, there was a Christmas when his family didn’t know when the next meal was going to be. He was very grateful when a similar organization to Gleaners gifted him and his family a Christmas dinner. He hopes families in need will not need to worry about dinner on Thanksgiving.
“Families in need end up getting meals they may not have otherwise gotten as a result of our donations,” Mr. Delaney said.
Overall, the food drive was a success, and many more families will be able to have a well-fed Thanksgiving this year. The food drive will return next year, and BHS will yet again serve the families in Brighton. According to Dunn, “There will always be one or two people in your class[room] who face food insecurity.” These students and other families in the community ultimately benefit from the generosity and support from the food drive donors.
