In light of the season of giving, ASB recently led their annual canned food drive at MVHS from Oct. 24 to Nov. 4, and collected approximately 1,970 cans to donate to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties.

The Second Harvest Food Bank provides fresh produce and food for over a quarter million people in need.

For years, ASB has held the canned food drive to get students involved with helping the broader community.

The canned food drive holds personal meaning for some participants.

David Campbell, a Spanish teacher, recalls his mother’s emphasis on donating to other families in need due to their own family’s experience with hardships.

[My mother] didn’t have enough to get food to make a special dinner and to have a special meal, and she opened the door one day,” Campbell said. “here was a turkey sitting out on her doorstep, and there was an envelope that had $100 in it. With that money, she was able to buy Christmas gifts. She was able to do all kinds of stuff.” Campbell said. “My mom always felt that it was important to give to other people even though we didn’t have much. We always found room to give to other families too.”

Hailey Marent, a senior and Community Service Commissioner also describes the importance of giving to those in need.

“A lot of students don’t realize that there are people in our area including students in our school who use this organization specifically to get their meals. A lot of underprivileged people are kind of hidden and we should recognize that,” Marent said. “People around us need help and it’s really simple to do that if you bring one can that can help give someone a meal who might not otherwise have one.”

Due to the abundance of large companies and wealthy individuals within the Silicon Valley, both Marent and Campbell feel like that has created a stigma in the MVHS community that all students are wealthy and are financially stable.

Campbell feels like the canned food drive helps students break down that stigma by informing them that there are families in our area that are in need help of food banks like the Second Harvest Food Bank.

“There are so many families here that are families in need and need a little help every once in awhile,” Campbell said. “I think [participating in the canned food drive] is a way of informing students that we are not all rich.”

As Community Service Commissioner, Marent has the role of making community service opportunities readily available for students at MVHS. Marent believes that drives such as the canned food drive provide an easy opportunity to give back to the community.

“I think that it’s an easy opportunity for people to give back; you don’t really have to go out of your way to do anything. A lot of people do want to help the community and donate they just don’t know how,” Marent said. “You just bring cans you have at your house already, and then bring it to your class that you’re already going to.”

Around next February, ASB  plans on organizing a Pennies for Patients fundraiser, a coin collection drive to raise money to donate to childhood cancer research.