By Anika LeeVan and Anna Witters
Schools across northwest Indiana are participating in the Hunger Drive, which helps donate food to food pantries.
“Even within our community… there is a need. There are just so many students that are just literally hungry. They don’t have enough food at home,” said Natalie Spevak, who organized the Hunger Drive for New Prairie. “They go home and they don’t know what they’re going to eat. When we have those snow days, there are kids who don’t get meals those days.”
The theme of this year’s Hunger Drive is the Hunger Games, based off of the book series by Suzanne Collins. In the books, there is different districts of the country. The school has sectioned off into eight districts from the books.
The Hunger Drive is a fundraiser where districts compete to get the most food donated. Students can also donate money. One dollar donated is equal to five pounds of food.
The districts include The Capital, Luxury, Masonry, Technology, Fishing, Power, Transportation, Lumber, and Textiles.
Students can donate to the district of their choice, with some teachers providing prizes. Teachers are awarding prizes such as t-shirts, wristbands, and even full breakfasts.
If students donate food, it is asked that it is a non-perishable item. A lot of food pantries are always in need of canned meats, like fish or chicken.
Some schools that are also participating in this are most South Bend schools, Michigan City schools, and Elkhart schools.
New Prairie got involved in the Hunger Drive several years ago. Jim Groendyke, the school’s librarian at the time, noticed other schools participating in the Hunger Drive. New Prairie decided to participate and has been going strong ever since. This is New Prairie’s fourth year doing the Hunger Drive.
In each district, there is at least one Key Club member. They help if the district needs a box or needs help with decorations.
“Once we have everything gathered, the Key Club members will go to the various food pantries and deliver food or checks.” said Spevak.