From February 7th to the 14th, MRHS held a food drive allowing students to donate non-perishable food items to their first-period classes, as well as online donations through OSP (online school payment). The drive was advertised through various posters hung up around the school, topped off with a banner in the Commons, urging students to participate.
Incentives for donating were a catered breakfast from Culinary Arts students for the top three contributing classes, as well as a free period during Flex Time on the 21st if the school collectively donated 2,000 pounds of food. In the end, Marriotts Ridge exceeded its 2,000-pound goal, albeit needing the help of online donations.
The event was organized by the SGA and aimed at giving to the less fortunate in the local community, with all tangible and online donations going to the Howard County Food Bank in Columbia. The incentive of providing food security to the less fortunate is already enough to get students donating, with even more coming thanks to the promised rewards, especially the free Flex Time period, in which students were able to visit any class of their choosing, all without a pass.
“With the free break, many of the current juniors and seniors experienced that before we had Flex Time, so having it again will be nice,” commented junior and HCASC Liaison Grace Chen.
Beyond rewards promised by the SGA, competition between classes can be another factor leading students to donate, especially with the promise of free food for the most giving classes.
“I think there was a sense of competition among students and with teachers as well. The top three classes get to enjoy a catered breakfast from the MRHS Culinary Arts students, which is a great incentive that promotes engagement and a sense of community within our school,” stated Chen.
However, in-person participation seemed to be lacking this year. Marriotts Ridge tallied only about 1,578 pounds of physical food items donated, falling somewhat short from what was counted in previous years, especially when the event took place during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.
“In terms of total food donations, the month of November has been better than February. I think people are more in the mindset of giving around Thanksgiving, but the reality is that people are food insecure all year,” claimed Ms. Rashid, the main organizer of the drive.
However, focus should also be put on online donations. Online donations were set up so that each dollar donated via OSP would equate to one pound in Marriotts Ridge’s total. Online donations were a crucial factor in this year’s success, with a cumulative total of $1,230 donated from all of MRHS.
“Online donating is much more convenient compared to bringing food to school. Other than its physical convenience, another reason why online donating can factor into this event’s success is the ratio of one dollar equating to one pound. People can easily get more pounds for a good amount of money, so the total weight increases easily as well,” explained Chen.
In the end, Marriotts Ridge helped dozens of families throughout Howard County experiencing food scarcity, and strengthened its impact on the local community through positive change.