Holiday Food Drive

By: Meredith Miller and Nicole Monigan

Teaching Team: Teachers from the various disciplines

School: Long Branch HS, Long Branch

Grade Levels: 9-12

Academic Focus/
Core Curriculum Standards: 

Comprehensive Health and Physical Education: 2.1, 2.2

Language Arts Literacy: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4,

Empathy, responsibility, teamwork, citizenship

Project Description: Students collaborate to organize, launch and execute a food drive to provide holiday baskets to needy families in Long Branch. A core committee of student leaders first prepares fliers that serve to motivate all students to participate in the effort. A structured five-activity approach enables all disciplines to participate in the school-wide effort: utilizing the food pyramid and nutrition guide to determine box contents; developing an action plan; mapping locations of families in need; formulating a cookbook of canned goods to be included; journal writing about participation and delivery.

Target Audience: Needy families in Long Branch

Project Scheduling: During class time in Academy classes; some additional work before and after school

Equipment Needed: Donation of 1 turkey per basket, storage for food items, movie tickets for winning class; specific materials for activities

Health: Students learn the nutritional value of food, create charts explaining the food pyramid, and create a collage of healthy food that serves as a guideline for canned food collection

Mathematics: Students determine the maximum weight that each box can hold and set up a check list for each box. Coupon collection for goods, determining the cost of a holiday dinner with non-perishable goods; cost comparison with that of traditional feast.

Visual Arts; Students take photos of each stage of the project and create a pictorial record of their efforts that will be showcased in the school.

Social Studies: Students learn about the effect of poverty; also create a map of Long Branch, indicating the locations of the food baskets.

Language Arts: Students will create a presentation board at the conclusion of the project, indicating steps and factors in its success. In the center “graffiti wall,” students will record their feelings as they complete the project. Also, an essay contest will take place.

Consumer, Family & Life Skills: Students will submit easy-to-use recipes for dinners, appetizers, vegetarian meals and desserts. From these, a cookbook tentatively entitled, Thirty-Minute Meals Using Canned Foods, will be created with proofread and edited recipes. Each basket/box will contain a copy of the cookbook.

Hurdles Encountered:

Hurdles Since this was the first time this was to be a service-learning rather than a community service activity, the coordination of many teachers of different disciplines was involved.

Solution: A presentation by Lead Partner helped to clarify the meaning and effects of effective service-learning projects.

Performance-based Education; Students are engaged in a collaborative activity that provides hands-on training in a project that benefits the community.

Cooperative Learning. Each phase of the project, from initial planning to final delivery of holiday boxes, requires coordination and cooperation.

Interdisciplinary Approach: Many disciplines are involved in making the project successful.

Students should experience the joy of helping others; the diverse motivational devices used throughout the project should increase their desire to be of service. Likewise, the project develops character-building skills such as trusting one another, showing responsibility, developing empathy and engaging in projects that demonstrate good citizenship. Student participation in the essay contest, “My Role in Feeding the Hungry” climaxes the project, adding to the reflection.

Celebration: Final Assembly at which a slide show will highlight the development of the project and its outcomes. Also, the winning essays will be read.

Recognition: Class that records the highest total will receive free tickets to the movies.

Media coverage of the events 

Key Findings: It is hoped that the project will engender a great deal of school spirit and a strong determination to help one another. At the same time it will reinforce the curriculum in an exciting way that promotes good citizenship.

Monmouth Food Bank

Food stores to donate turkeys.

Parents and Volunteer Involvement: Parents will help in soliciting additional goods.

Graffiti Wall on presentation board records the feelings of the students.

Class discussion at each stage.

Journal Books with student response to specific quotes. E.g. “There is no better feeling than the feeling of giving.”

Essay Contest

Individual assessments by teachers in different disciplines.