Tippecanoe School Corporation
TSC delivers on holiday giving
Sue Scott

Local food pantries will be stocked and many families will have food to enjoy for Thanksgiving thanks to the efforts of our students and staff. This is a look at some of the donation drives in our schools. Other schools are still collecting donations and participating in other community service projects that go into December.

Klondike Middle School teacher Anne Brandt received a grant from the nonprofit group, No Kid Hungry. With those funds, she was able to purchase 30 Thanksgiving meals for school families.

Several schools held food drives to benefit Food Finders Food Bank. At Wyandotte Elementary School, students created a mountain of canned goods. The drive, led by the student council, netted more than 7,000 items. Dayton Elementary School also held a canned food drive where one day the girls were assigned to bring in green beans and the boys brought in corn. In total, the school collected nearly 5,000 items in a two-week period. And, East Tipp Middle School held its annual food drive that brought in more than 7 tons of food for Food Finders Food Bank.

Wyandotte Elementary food drive
Dayton Elementary Food Drive
Students bring in food at East Tipp

Battle Ground Middle School collected 992 canned and packaged food items and raised nearly $1,300 for the Battle Ground United Methodist Church Food Pantry. Eighth grade student Camila Ramirez says the food drive is important for the community and school. She says it’s a lesson in helping others and much more: “This is also another way to show and teach students to care about our community and the people in it. So as they grow and see problems in our community, they have some knowledge on how the problem can be solved. I think that the students in our school responded exceptionally well to the food drive and did an excellent job on bringing in the things we asked for. In fact, most of them went above and beyond and we had more than enough to give.”

Students prepare to board a bus at Battle Ground Middle School to deliver donations

At McCutcheon High School, members of Students in Action and Student Council organized a sock donation drive. Counselor Ebony Gilbert says students collected 335 pairs of socks, then used proceeds from a boys volleyball game to purchase 518 additional pairs of socks. Sophomore Jacob Buche says the socks will go to Lafayette Transitional Housing Center. “This project brings the school closer to our community and allows us all to actively participate in a service project,” says Jacob.

McCutcheon students collect socks