The Cannon Falls Minnesota Honor Society chapter held a food and essentials items drive at the Cannon Falls Elementary school during the week of December 9th through the 13th. The food drive is held to help the community as well as a competition for the elementary schoolers. Overall there were 950 pounds of food and 300 pounds of essential items donated.
Elementary students received a list the week prior to the food drive and were heavily encouraged to donate what they could. Each item donated was worth 5 or 10 points. Throughout each day MHS students would count, sort, and keep track of points for each class. After all the food was collected it was brought to the food shelf located in the basement of First English Lutheran Church. Mary Wertjes’s fifth-grade class won the competition and did a great job at donating the most to help the local community. The fifth-grade class received candy canes as their prize.
The food and essential items drive is a simple and easy way to make a large impact. The elementary students work to earn points with most of them not relaxing that they are playing an important role in the community. MHS Vice President Grady Meyers, a junior, said “It is important because it helps the community, especially those in need.” The Minnesota Honor Society has been doing the food drive for around sixteen years. The food drive has been consistently successful and run by students year after year. President Anna Ritz, a senior in MHS expressed that “Overall it turned out great. We collected tons of food and everyday essentials that will help those in need.”
The food and essential items drive is an amazing way for MHS students to make an impact in the community around the holidays. Minnesota Honor Society students work not only during the holiday months to make an impact with acts of service but throughout the whole year. Many families and students have benefited from the food drive in the past and are now able to donate themselves. Even if the elementary students don’t realize what they are doing they are still helping to create change for the better.
