Students collect can foods for needy
Several schools in Franklin County have recently held canned food drives that will help many local organizations during the holiday season.
Russellville Elementary School just wrapped up their canned food drive, which they began in November. The school was able to collect over 2,500 cans that will be donated to the Faith Mission Outreach in downtown Russellville.
According to fourth-grade teacher and organizer, Stephanie Mayfield, the school held a competition to see how many cans each classroom could bring in.
“We offered incentives such as letting the winning class have a popcorn and movie day, a game day in class, or free time outside,” Mayfield said.
“We posted the incentives right outside the cafeteria and we also posted each classroom’s daily total. The kids would all crowd around every day to see who had the most cans.”
Fourth-grade teacher Paige Hargett, whose class won the overall competition, said that her class worked very hard to bring in cans.
“This is a very sweet class and they were excited to help other people in the community,” she said. “They did a very good job and I’m proud of them.”
Other grade winners included Ginger Saylor’s class, who brought in the most cans in the third grade; and Stephanie Mayfield and Haley Fuller’s classes, who brought in the most cans in the fifth grade.
Tharptown High School and Tharptown Elementary School held a canned food drive to support food banks in the area as well. In all, 3,250 cans and non-perishable food items were collected to support local families during the holidays.
The canned food drive was sponsored by the Jobs for Alabama’s Graduates (JAG), an organization at the school that focuses on careers, character education and community service.
According to Franklin County’s JAG manager, Cynthia Forsythe, the organization is made possible through grants, which Forsythe was able to secure for Tharptown High School, Red Bay High School and Phil Campbell High School.
“This organization helps teach students employable skills that will be important to them when they enter the workforce,” Forsythe said. “The grant also helps pay for some of the teachers salaries.”
Kelli Gilbert, Tharptown’s JAG specialist, said her group of 40 students has worked very hard on the canned food drive and other projects.
“This year, we have focused on community service projects that teach the students the importance of giving back to the community,” Gilbert said. “They did a great job working on the project and encouraging their classmates to bring in cans.”
The high school winner of the canned food drive was the seventh-grade class. The elementary school winner was the fourth-grade class.
