The students at Oak Park and River Forest High School are spreading the joys and spirit of giving this time of year as the Multicultural Leadership Club collects dry goods to be distributed around the village.
The club, which is composed of a group of students who come together to embrace their differences, is collecting dry goods and canned foods through their Holiday Food Drive through Dec. 15th.
All of the collected food will be distributed to local food pantries and local community fridges by Lee Williams, transition specialist at OPRF and faculty co-sponsor of the club.
The support from the OPRF community has already been overwhelming, said Lee, who held a food drop right before Thanksgiving, bringing about 20 bags to donate to Euclid Avenue United Methodist Church. But as the holiday festivities continue, Williams said he expects more donations to come.
“We typically increase our donations after Thanksgiving, doing closer to 30 or 40 bags of donations for the Christmas holiday,” Williams said, adding that more drops will be happening about once a week until donations stop coming in, which sometimes can extend into January.
As the one who handles drop offs, Williams has witnessed firsthand the need for more food donations to organizations around Oak Park that are trying to feed those who are hungry.
“There is a huge need,” Williams said. “Many times when I have gone to local fridges or pantries, they have thanked me for coming by.”
Gabriel Ford, senior at OPRFHS, said he has always felt it in his heart to give back to the community and the club has been a great vehicle to be able to do that.
“I also encourage students to donate and tell their families to donate so that way we have a nice amount to be able to bring to the community,” Ford said.
The success of the club, which has been up and running at OPRF for around five years, is because of that desire to be involved with the community, Williams said.
As the club brings people together, it also helps them work through their differences to find commonality through acts of service, added Williams.
“We may have differences of opinions regarding things, different perspectives,” Williams said. “But often times we find that we all care about serving our community, we all care about serving those that are less fortunate, we all care about improving the quality of life in our community and this club is a way to have these discussions on how we can partner to improve not only our school community but our local quality of life regardless of any differences we may possess.”
It is that giving spirit that local organizations admire, said Williams, adding that oftentimes they are surprised that the food is being donated by high school students.
“They are very excited about that and glad about that, that the local schools are participating and supporting the local community,” Williams said. “They are glad that there is a local institution that is involved in supporting this resource.”
OPRF students and families are encouraged to donate dry food and nonperishable cans, which are being collected at the student activity center at the high school.
