Annual Food Drive Experience by Tinley

Annual Food Drive Experience by Tinley - December 2019 Scholarship Essay

Through my experience and participation with student council and being chair of the annual food drive a lasting impression was left on me personally by the strong teamwork, community service, and giving to those who are less fortunate. This experience impacted me in several ways but as the leader I was most proud of the student body and their willingness to give to others. We collected over 38,000 cans of food, which was the largest collection in the school’s history. Additionally, this Food Drive showed not only me but the whole student body that small acts of kindness add up collectively into something much bigger. The weeks leading up to the food drive I contributed many hours of planning and organization. During the food drive my team and I were at school early every morning to collect and organize the food. When the food items were delivered to the food bank and the shelves were stocked again, it was an emotional moment knowing that families would be able to eat now because of our efforts. I’ve never personally had to worry about whether or not my parents would be able to provide food for me and I found the experience humbling in so many ways. Through this experience I contributed hard work and leadership, but I also learned to be a better leader, practice my communication skills, and promote teamwork. This experience helped me learn more about myself because at first as the chair I wanted the event to be bigger and better based on my competitive spirit but in the end, it wasn’t about winning but the giving back to others in need. I learned how to motivate other people to accomplish this big task and meet the goal. This experience is one example that has impacted my plans for the future. I want to help people that cannot help themselves and become a surgeon. To accomplish this goal, I will need the experiences such as the food drive to help me focus on a goal and achieve it, motivate people to do the right thing, a strong work ethic, and the ability to lead others in a positive way. I hope to remember the emotion involved in stocking the food bank shelves and always remember that service to others impacts people in so many ways and hopefully everyone involved will pay kindness forward.

The annual food drive is organized by student council each year and has a designated chairman, which was my role. Student council members have required workdays during the summer months and the beginning stages of the food drive begin during this time for me as chair. Leading up to the food drive the team received a needs list from the food banks that also indicated that the food bank was low on protein containing items. A diet with adequate amounts of protein is important for the health and well-being of the clients dependent upon the food bank for meals. Catholic High School is the primary supplier for St. Vincent DePaul Society, so the organization depends on our success. As the chair I worked with instructors to create classroom incentives for items on the shortage list. Collection boxes were created for each homeroom. A spreadsheet was developed for worker sign up, which was sent electronically to other student council members. The food items were collected over a four-week period of which I arrived at school early each morning to supervise the drive collections. At the end of the drive all items were counted again, and the trucks were loaded to deliver all the canned good. Cash donations were also provided to allow the food banks to buy fresh fruits and vegetables for the clients. Overall, I supervised all details of the drive from planning, collections, and delivery of the food. This was a great experience in leadership and helped me develop my skills related to negotiation and motivating others. Strong negation tactics were used with instructors, especially in the more difficult classes, to build incentives for canned meats and powdered milk specifically. The student body experienced continuous motivation and reminders regarding their food donations because I worked relentlessly to ensure that this was the best food drive in the history of our school. In the end it was remarkable to see the small contributions of so many people come together and create a big impact for someone else. These food banks provide a source of nutrition to the less fortunate and have reserves after natural disasters in our hurricane prone area.