The Westchester Food Pantry gave thanks this past Thanksgiving holiday as Proviso West students rallied together to collect food donations, helping to provide side dishes to accompany the festive meals on the tables of over 300 families.
The food drive, organized by the Proviso West Key Club, which aims to help develop initiative and leadership ability in students, is in its second year. It encourages students to give back to their community while helping them receive service hours that are needed to graduate.
Shannon Scott, librarian at Proviso West and sponsor of the club, said the drive is conducted through cards that resemble Bingo cards, with each spot corresponding to one of the non-perishable items that were being collected and was open to all students. If a student turned in a fully stamped card, they earned five service hours and were also entered in a raffle to win a gift card.
The food drive ran through Nov. 15 and donations were then organized and packed by members of the Key Club and delivered to the food pantry by members of the school’s maintenance team.
“We had so much food that, where I was holding on to it before the kids packed it up, I could not get to my desk because it was just piles and piles of boxes,” Scott said.
This year, Scott said she had 40 people participate in the drive and while she would love to see more participation, she also understands that those who do are also the ones who have the financial ability to purchase the food.
“I would have liked more students to participate but you know what, essentially the kids who participated are the ones who are able to financially, as opposed to when we make scarfs … and the kids are putting in time versus putting in buying the food that matches the bingo card,” Scott said. “I would love to have more kids participate in donating but the reality is that we have that food pantry that serves this population for a reason. So, some of these kids may not be able to participate in it because they go to the pantry.”
Still, they tried to make a difference in some lives with the donations for the pantry, which serves local families and many Proviso Township High School District 209.
“It’s local. I try to spread our giving and our work around to both local and globally, it really depends on what we are doing,” Scott said, adding that oftentimes it is hard to find local organizations to partner with as sometimes the student’s schedules do not align with what the organizations need. “I do what I can with the kids.”
The Westchester Food Pantry, on South Mannheim Road, was not able to be reached for comment. But a post on their Facebook page showed that the Key Club donated side dishes for over 330 families in need as part of their Thanksgiving baskets this holiday season.