Students await anxiously in their classes to hear the final results of the canned food drive, when Mr. Jim Schulz, StuCo advisor, comes onto the intercom.

“We had good participation from day one,” said Mr. Schulz. “I’m very impressed with the seniors. They came right out of the box bringing in a lot of cans. Even the freshman were very enthusiastic.”

The canned food drive lasted two weeks, Nov. 3-Nov. 14.

All grades participated bringing in a total of 36,822 cans, adding up to over 600,000 over the past 20 years.

“I thought it might be fun to participate,” said Anika VanLieshout (10). “And it’s all going to a good cause, so I thought ‘might as well’.”

Every morning StuCo members greeted the participants, collected their cans and got them ready for the charities.

“I sorted and stacked cans and lifted boxes,” said Addison Kitrel (9). “It was good to work with the other people.”

The canned food drive is a great way for everyone to get involved and help out.

“I really like how it’s our whole school contributing to better other people, the less fortunate,” Connor McDonald (12) said.

Each year there is a competition between the grade levels to see who can bring in the most cans.

Seniors managed to snag the win again this year.The final tallies were…

1. Seniors: 18,396 points
2. Juniors: 8,233 points
3. Sophomores: 6,516 points
4. Freshman: 5,046 points

There is also a competition between fifth hour classes and the winner gets an ice cream party. The parties don’t have a set date yet, but they will be sometime after Thanksgiving break.

The top five classes in order are:

1. Mrs. Jenni Highfill (AP Spanish)
2. Mr. Andy Gensler (Senior Lit)
3. Mr. Joshua Flores (Psychology)
4. Mrs. Sheree Klumb (AP Calculus)
5. Mr. Schulz (AP Euro)

The cans are split up and sent to many different charities around the St. Louis area.

We distribute boxes based on the size of the charity and how many people they help. The biggest charity, which is Circle of Concern, they will get the most of it. Then the Eureka food pantry gets a sizeable portion, according to Mr. Schulz

“It’s a way to give back. It impacts a lot of people in the community because it goes out to a lot of different organizations,” Mrs. Deborah Asher, head principal, said. “It is always a struggle for them to get all the food they need, so it is really special that we get to contribute in such a big way.”