Imagine your everyday classmate who goes to school and is apart of an ordinary family. What you don’t know is that the father of that same classmate you see everyday lost his job and can barely provide for his family.
The family has used up all their savings, maxed out all their credit cards, and is about to lose their home. Life has been very tough, and sometimes there is no money for food, not even on Thanksgiving.
“Thanksgiving has always been a huge part of my family culture, and after learning about the Second Harvest Food Bank in elementary school, I realized how lucky I was and became more thankful cause many people don’t get to celebrate Thanksgiving like I do,” said sophomore Rafael Desoto.
In 1988, the San Mateo County Food Bank merged with The Food Bank, Inc. of Santa Clara County into what is now known as the Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo.
According to the Bank, nearly a quarter of a million people will be fed this month by Thanksgiving with a service area from South San Francisco to Gilroy.
Food banks are non-profit hunger relief organizations that receive donations from companies and individuals and distributes nutritious, non-perishable foods to people in need.
The Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo is a certified member of Feeding America, the largest network of food banks and programs in the United States that allows more than 200 food banks to cooperate with one another.
They will be having their annual Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning, a walkathon to fundraise for the organization.
According to ASB, Carlmont has collected 14 barrels of food cans for the Second Harvest Food Bank in the last month.
“I am overjoyed by the huge amount of cans we collected this year. It was definitely more than last year’s and I’m sure Carlmont will keep up the good work,” said sophomore Kimberly Lane.
There are many ways to help benefit our community food banks. According to Feeding America, donating $1 equals up to two meals for the disadvantaged.
“Many of the donations we receive will be cycled back to some Carlmont students themselves. It’s great that so many people care about this event,” said sophomore class president Liam Jocson.
Other than donations of food and money, some Carlmont students volunteer at warehouses by sorting and distributing food to serve the community.
“There were many groups of people who did different jobs at the food bank I volunteered at. I was bagging food into boxes that had to be approximately 28 pounds. It was a lot of work, but also very fun cooperating with others. I learned important skills involving teamwork, and I’m definitely coming back next time,” said sophomore Danny Crook.
In many ways, volunteers provide for others, but their services benefit themselves as well. Volunteers learn important group skills when cooperating with others.
Certain community services, especially volunteering at food banks, can provide eye-opening experiences such as being grateful for yourself and understanding for others.
“Whether it’s collecting cans, providing donations, performing at senior centers, or volunteering at a walkathon, community service is important to me because it provides me with new experiences and benefits me as well as my community,” said Desoto.
