Freshman Alan Garcia recently spent a Friday night with some of his classmates, going door-to-door down the streets of North Minneapolis, collecting food for the local food shelf, PRISM. Alan Garcia, along with the rest of the freshman class, broke a school record and had the opportunity to meet new classmates while giving back to the community.
This year’s freshmen collected the greatest amount of canned foods for PRISM of any freshman class in the history of the school’s participation. “[We collected] 4,280 pounds. We broke the record of 4,170 pounds, which had stood for three years,” said Ms. May Lane, theology teacher.
Freshmen found many benefits in the experience, including the chance to build relationships while helping others. “It was nice to get to know more of the freshman class, especially the girls, and it felt good to give back to the community,” said Garcia.
Freshmen participation is essential to the food drive’s success and the growth of the community. “It’s important for 3 different [reasons]. [Firstly], it builds awareness of the need in the community, and it also builds awareness of serving others. Secondly, it builds the community of the 9th graders. Thirdly, it shows the community what BSM is about. People see the students in BSM apparel collecting food, and they get a sense of what’s important to us at BSM,” said Mr. Zach Zeckser, theology teacher.
Not only does the event provide a fun social outing for students, but also teaches them an important lesson. “Students learn about the importance of helping, loving, and caring for others who are less fortunate, just as Jesus did. We must put our faith into action, we have to live it. The freshman food drive allows students to do that,” said Ms. Lane.
Teachers prepare weeks before by incorporating the food drive into the lessons they teach. “The ninth grade theology teachers synthesize the food drive with their theology curriculum. We prepare a good deal for the event by bringing it into discussions about concepts such as inspiration, revelation, discernment, and vocation,” said Mr. Zeckser.
Not only does the success of the event rely on students and teachers, but also on the generosity of the parents. “It went very well. Students were excited about it, and parents were generous in offering their time. We needed 45 [parents] to drive close to 220 freshmen to various neighborhoods,” said Ms. Lane.
The Freshtival, a school organized party for freshmen and link crew leaders, awaited the BSM students when they returned to the school after their hard work with the food drive. “It was so much fun. We did face paintings, [and] there was pie throwing, darts, basketball, four square, DDR, Wii, toss bean bags at cups, and card games,” said Link Crew leader Jennifer Roberts.
