During the season of giving, Marriotts Ridge students participated in the annual SGA Thanksgiving Food Drive from Thursday, November 7th to Tuesday, November 12th. The SGA introduced a new incentive this year: any first-period class that raised or collected more than 300 pounds got donuts and the winning class received a fully catered breakfast by the MRHS Culinary Club.
To gain as many donations as possible, the SGA started planning the food drive last year and advertised with multiple social media posts and posters with QR codes to donate online around the school.
“So every year we plan a food drive by working with the Community Action Council in Howard County, and we work with their food bank to help feed over 35,000 people. We started planning it last year by scheduling the dates, and then executing the annual plan,” explained senior and SGA president Jeremey Jacob.
This year along with collecting non-perishable donations for the Howard County Food Bank, the MRHS Culinary Club requested certain food items to cook five trays of Thanksgiving sides for the Grassroots Center in Columbia.
“It’s about giving back to the community and supporting those who might need the extra resources. We’re also trying to send out a feedback form this year so we can improve the drive for next year,” said senior and SGA vice president Grace Chen.
To support both of these causes, 46 out of 65 first-period classes participated in donating this year. Students and teachers at Marriotts Ridge generously donated over $3,500 and 2,400 pounds of food. The winner of the food drive competition was Mr. Khouri’s first period who collected over 800 pounds of food and received a trophy and breakfast catered by the Culinary Arts Program.
“We’re always trying to get people more hyped to help out the community and one of the ways to do that is to give them additional incentives to foster competition and a sense of community,” added Jacob.
Along with the class that raised the most donations, any first period that raised over 300 pounds received Dunkin Donuts. This year, apart from the winner, six more classes raised over 300 pounds to win donuts.
“We wanted to incentivize donations from all classes rather than just those in the top three as we have done in years past,” explained media specialist Mrs. Rashid.
Although the incentives with the donuts this year were an added bonus, many students wanted to donate just to help out those in need and share the joy of Thanksgiving.
“I’m in Mr. Flynn’s first period and everyone in my class was trying to get to 300 pounds so we could get donuts for our class. Not only that but I donated because it’s also for a good cause and I wanted to help make people’s Thanksgivings better,” shared junior Adithi Akella.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Mustangs have raised an impressive amount of food and donations this year to help both Grassroots and the Howard County Food Bank.