By Tinese Ammons
It was announced last week that Frenship Middle School donated more than $4,000 to the South Plains Food Bank, U Can Share Food Drive and was ultimately the top school in financial contributions. More than 60 schools around the Lubbock community brought in donations to the food drive, and FMS was number one providing more than 12,000 meals for those in need across the South Plains.
The U Can Share Food Drive is an annual event that FMS has participated in for many years. The student council at FMS has been taking kids to volunteer at the food bank every year to help them fully understand and appreciate the value of their donations.However, this year's food drive looked a little different than previous years when students learned that just $1 could be stretched into 3 meals by the South Plains Food Bank. The student council officers decided instead of the typical food drive where students bring non-perishable goods, a cash drive was the way to go. They came up with different activities for their peers and encouraged everyone to donate.
"This is the first year that we only collected money," said Tinese Ammons, Student Council sponsor. "Volunteering at the food bank raised an awareness of the waste that occurs due to dented and damaged cans."
A total of $4,101.54 was raised over a four-week period by the students at FMS. Through things like lunch competitions, with a goal of $1,000 per lunch, that coincided with the Thanksgiving lunch and resulted in bigger donations from FMS families, the fall book fair where collection buckets where set out at the register asking for any leftover change that resulted in more than $200, teachers doing things in their classrooms to encourage students and the Art students raising $150, the cash drive was off to a huge success.
"Our final push was our annual Macho Man competition," said Ammons. "This is a fun, light-hearted beauty contest featuring 8th-grade boys from various electives. Students purchased a wrist band for preferred seating and voting privileges. Our student council also donated $200 from their year-long fundraising efforts."The participation and student engagement was so impressive to everyone that the Student Council decided to take an additional 30 students to the food bank in January by having a drawing of those students who donated.
FMS student council is also heavily involved in their annual Tiger Tree at Christmas. The counselor of the school Student Council with information for those students who qualify for the Tiger Tree and then it's off to the stores they go. The entire student council goes to Walmart to shop for things on their list - which are sometimes just basic necessities. This is just another opportunity for the Student Council members to recognize how giving back can go a long way.
When students get back to campus, they wrap all of the gifts and take them to the main office to put them under the tree for pickup.
"We have a large student council," said Ammons, "more than 100 students, and it grows each year as the students enjoy serving both our school and the community in the many different projects we do throughout the year."