This holiday season, KO’s Student Government Association (SGA) partnered with the West Hartford Food Pantry, donating over 300 food items.
The goal of the food drive was to help combat food insecurity in West Hartford, especially during the winter months. The food drive has been occurring at KO for many years, but this year’s food drive included a twist. It was turned into a house competition in an effort to raise more food items. “Everyone comes out to support a good cause, especially when a competition is involved,” English Department Chair and SGA Faculty Advisor William Martino said.
Senior Speaker Nick Tippner explained how the competition worked. “We incorporated the food drive by assigning each house certain items,” Nick said. “We then had each house compete to bring in the most items.”
The items that were assigned this year were canned fruit, rice in one-pound bags, vegetarian soup cans, peanut butter, jelly, dry pasta, tomato sauce, shelf-stable milk, and cold cereal. House York won the competition by donating over 100 items. This victory earned them 25 points. Lancaster came in second place, earning 15 points, followed by Windsor in third place, earning 10 house points.
Even though the food drive was a competition, the ultimate goal was to help support the West Hartford Food Pantry. “I think our school made a big impact,” Nick said. “I also think that making this a tradition will help us care beyond ourselves and help improve the West Hartford community.”
While the food drive will certainly benefit people in West Hartford, Mr. Martino wants to see more of them throughout the year. “People go hungry throughout the year,” he said. “We as a KO community can get more involved, and the food pantry will be very appreciative.” Overall, the food drive was a great success, and hopefully KO can continue taking efforts to combat food insecurity in the months ahead.
