Student council is collecting cereal for the annual cereal drive. Students will be able to donate cereal for the entire month of February.

All the cereal boxes collected will be donated to Saint Vincent De Paul’s food pantry.

“This organization has one group each month of the year collecting cereal for the panty, as it is an item that they use quite a bit and is often harder to replace on their shelves,” adviser Kimberly Shope said.

The high school has been working with the Saint Vincent De Paul food pantry to collect cereal for multiple years.

“The organization has been running this cereal project for several years, and it seems to be successful,” Shope said.

Student council has a goal to collect 900 to 1000 boxes of cereal this year.

“We have collected as little as 500 boxes, and one time thousands of boxes, so it’s hard to tell what will happen each year,” Shope said.

The cereal goes to families from the community who seek assistance at the food pantry.

“I think it is an excellent community service project. There’s a great need in our community and a lot of food insecurity,” English teacher Jen Lowe said.

Lowe encourages all of her students to participate by offering an award to the students who bring in cereal.

“Some teachers like to give extra credit or bonus points, but I’d rather give them a tangible reward. That way if people can’t afford to bring in a lot of boxes, they can still participate with just a small donation, and it helps that way. I like to reward them with maybe a hot chocolate day if they’ve participated and make some kind of treat,” Lowe said.

By bringing in cereal, students would be giving back to the community.

“Well, I think giving back and helping others should be its own reward. Sometimes when we’re younger, we need something that’s a little more tangible,” Lowe said.

Some students make it a competition to see who brings the most boxes of cereal.

“One year I got close to cracking 100 but not quite. That was a year where students felt particularly competitive. It kind of depends upon your group of students. My husband famously brought in over 1000 boxes one year,” Lowe said.

Lowe has set a goal of 100 boxes she would like to collect this year.

“If all of my students brought a box and we could bring in more than 100, I think I’d like to crack 100,” Lowe said.

Three student council members volunteered to help organize the cereal collection.

“I feel great about the cereal drive because I am confident a lot of students will participate and cereal is a great item to donate to others,” senior Brenna Sweeley said.

The students organizing the collection will be in charge of building up publicity and the collection sites.

“I decided to help organize the cereal drive because it is a fun contest where a lot of students get involved, and it is also a great way for me to help out with the school,” Sweeley said.