CCA IS IN THE SPIRIT OF GIVING

CCA has hosted many drives in the past, however this year was our first official Thanksgiving drive. Student Council organized the drive with the hope that they could provide families with plenty of food for this Thanksgiving. The goal was to either meet the needs of the community, which was seventy-three bags of food across the district, or get two-hundred of each item being accepted. We almost reached two-hundred of each item for some foods but missed the mark by just a bit. The most important thing is that we collected enough food for the seventy-three families, which in the end we did. As a community we came together and exceeded this goal, getting eighty bags worth of food in total. Thanks to this community, seventy-three families were able to enjoy their Thanksgiving with the food that they need. 

Donations were being accepted from October twenty-eighth through November thirteenth. All of the food being collected had to be shelf stable, but there were still a large variety of items being collected for the drive. Canned green beans, corn, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy, pumpkin, and fruit were all included, as well as instant mashed potatoes, cornbread mix, stuffing mix, marshmallows, and fruit pie filling.

SHELF STABLE ITEMS COLLECTED AT CLEAR CREEK AMANA HIGH SCHOOL; PHOTO BY LILI NANDELL

Every family was given a bag of food, with each bag consisting of two cans of green beans, two cans of corn, one to two cans of carrots, one can of cranberry sauce, one to two packets of gravy mix, two cans of fruit, one bag or box of mashed potatoes, one box of cereal, one box of craisins, one can of pinto beans, one bag of rice and one box of cornbread. Some bags had extra miscellaneous items, these were given to larger families. 

The holiday season can be difficult, and there’s no shame in needing some help. Our food drive this year isn’t the only support. St. Andrew Church does a food market on the last Wednesday of every month. It’s open to everyone from eight am to seven pm. There is also the North Liberty food pantry, the Coralville food pantry, and the grey building, also known as the transition building, between the Middle School and High School that can provide support with food and other essentials. The Interact Club also plans on hosting more drives and collection events to support our community. The soonest community event CCA will be doing is our “Sponsor a Family”, where the student body buys gifts for families and wraps them so that they will have gifts for Christmas. CCA is lucky to have a supportive community.