Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Harvest Pantry’s New Year’s Resolution: Gain Kilos
Harvest Pantry gained over 2,000 kilos over the holidays! This huge gain came in the form of canned and non-perishable food donated from school food drives.
Thanks to six schools in the Tokyo area last December, awareness, good will, and thousands of food items were raised for the Harvest Pantry. The American School in Japan (ASIJ) collected 750 kilos, Tokyo Korean School (TKS) 500 kilos, Nishimachi International School over 300 kilos, Camp Zama Middle School 250 kilos, Canadian Academy 280 kilos, and Seisen International School about 200 kilos.
Second Harvest Japan Executive Director Charles E. McJilton commented, “It is neat to see students make active contributions to the community. It helps them make a connection between their daily lives and those out there in need in Japan. It also reminds them that they can have a positive impact in the community they live in.”
In 2007, TKS doubled the food amount they collected from the previous year. To motivate their elementary students, they gave lottery tickets out for each item brought in and drew three winners at the end of the food drive. In addition, the teachers performed a dance routine to reward the students for collecting more than 2,000 food items.
Photo: Tokyo Korean School
TKS teacher Mark Valens said, “Students have positive memories about donating food to Second Harvest Japan, and they come away feeling good about themselves for making a difference in someone’s life. Nothing is better than that.”
In its sixth year of helping the hungry, ASIJ weighed in heavy. “Loading 750 kilos of food items in 2HJ’s truck was like trying to solve a rubik’s cube,” stated ASIJ Middle School Assistant Principal Meagan Pavey. “The sheer volume of food collected and all four divisions at ASIJ working together as a community were highlights this year.”
Photo: Meagan Pavey
At ASIJ, each division’s student government decided how food would be collected. The middle school’s Student Leadership Team held a competition between homerooms. Mr. Harris’s homeroom won. The group of 13 said, “We all tried our hardest. We thought about the people with no food, and we wanted them to have food for the holiday. Everybody should care about others.”
And it’s easy to do. Here are some pointers to run a successful food drive at your school, club, organization, sports team, or other community group.
- Contact 2HJ in advance to discuss needs and logistics
- Remember people are hungry all year round. Consider organizing food drives multiple times in a year
- Set clear start/end dates
- Quality control: Check collected items during and at the end of the food drive, and remove any expired or opened items. Since these items cannot be distributed, if donated they become a costly burden rather than a useful donation. Make this clear to students at the beginning
- Add the element of competition: Have classes/grades compete to see who can collect the most food
- Make it visible: Assign students to make eye-catching bulletin boards and decorated collection boxes
- Keep everyone posted: Post a tally sheet to show the amount of food collected in various categories so students can see what is still needed
- Hold kick-off and wrap-up events to educate students on hunger in Japan and to share the results
Writer: kmh
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