“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me’” (Matt. 25:40).
With the above verse as their inspiration, the Calvary Christian School (Bellefontaine) Key Club spent the last two weeks gathering food for “the least of these.”
What originally began as a one-week food drive was extended through yesterday due to several school cancellations and delays. By the time they added up everything Friday night, they had almost 450 items, which they delivered after school to Our Daily Bread, a free meal program under Lutheran Community Services.
According to CCS Key Club president, Lili Printz, the organization focuses on leadership and service.
“We come together and think of ways we can serve our school and our community,” the high school junior said. And that includes the annual food drive.
“A lot of time food pantries are really depleted after Christmas,” CCS Key Club adviser Tammy Brewer stated. “We thought this is a good time to help them build their inventory back up.” Brewer’s in her fourth year at Calvary and now serves as the seventh- and eighth-grade language arts and middle/high school Spanish teacher.
The Key Club presents this food-raiser as a competition between the fourth- through 12fth-grade classes. Each class brings in donations of various items and each item has a point value. This system goes from one point for things like boxed macaroni and cheese or condensed tomato soup to 10 points for brown rice, whole wheat pasta and baby formula. They also included non-food items like shampoo, toothpaste and diapers.
“We take things for granted,” Madhuri Cook, CCS junior and Key Club vice president, said. “It’s nice to be able to bless others with what we have.”
Printz added, “It’s good to give without receiving.”
But then they both laughed because, in fact, the class with the most points will receive a prize of their choice, to be provided by the student government. That winning class was Betsy Woodruff’s fourth grade with 88 items. They will enjoy a nacho party for lunch on Monday.
With the food drive completed, the CCS Key Club has already started planning their next event—a breakfast for pastors in the community, slated for April 3.