BSM is holding its annual food drive to help our neighbors’ households in St. Louis Park for the holiday of Yom Kippur. This was organized by the lovely Peg Hodapp, who is the service and learning coordinator, and carried out by the BSM students.
In past years, Benilde-St.Margaret’s has participated in this food drive alongside the Beth El Synagogue, which is running its own food drive as well. It has been successful due to the students at BSM participating and doing their best to bring in food. This food drive is running from Wednesday, September 20th, through Monday, September 25th. This is to help those in St. Louis Park feed those who are in need of food. In total, this drive helps 1,120 households and 3,449 individuals. “I bring in food every year for the food drives because it’s a little something I can do to contribute to my community,” senior participant Shale Hornig said.
BSM is a Catholic school that prides itself on its contribution to the community. As a school, BSM does a great job at its community outreach and participating in many service opportunities in the community. This bonds us to our neighbors while helping our Minneapolis community. “We are not only serving the greater community; we’re also drawing a connection to the people of the Beth El community, which I think is a really positive thing for us to do regularly: try and partner with them and, you know, just work together with them on different causes and interests,” BSM coordinator Hodapp said.
We are not only serving the greater community; we’re also drawing a connection to the people of the Beth El community, which I think is a really positive thing for us to do regularly: try and partner with them and, you know, just work together with them on different causes and interests.
— Peg Hodapp
As a reminder for students, foods that are preferred are: Mac n’ Cheese, peanut butter, flour, sugar, pasta, pasta sauce, tuna, and rice. Bringing in food with a long shelf life is also preferred. The more food one can bring, the more of an impact they have. Students have been bringing in their donations, knowing that they are helping a good cause. “I am happy that the food I bring is going towards a greater good,” Hornig said.
Overall, providing all of this food for those less fortunate than ourselves makes a bigger impact than one might think; taking the time to bring in some food does make a difference. If you are a BSM student, take time to look at other service opportunities in the community to help contribute to doing good, just like this food drive.