When the Founder’s Day Food Drive concluded this past month, both students and staff noted a significant decrease in donations in comparison to previous years.
The event aims to provide Thanksgiving meals to New York City families in need. As in previous years, students were encouraged to bring in any form of packaged food that they’d be willing to donate and give it in during their second band classes. Each second band class was provided with a box labeled “donations” dedicated to student contributions, which were collected by the Mercy Center in the South Bronx.
“We had a nice total of donations this year, but it was less than in previous years. Several teachers actually sent empty donation boxes to the lobby,” said Coordinator of Student Activities Jaime Baranoff, who helped organize the event. “This was a bit disappointing.”
AP World History teacher Aliza Sherman said, “In my past years, I remember how eager students were to give to charity. The boxes we’d be given would actually fill up, and then I’d have to go and request for more, sometimes three of them.”
Music teacher Kevin Heathwood said that he “expected more [donations]” in his room because of how much there was in previous years.
Students and staff felt the decrease in donations reflects a greater culture shift within the school community, and more has to be done in order to get people to donate.
Junior Brandon Pinto said, “I got used to seeing a lot of empty donation boxes among my classes. It was kind of sad seeing empty boxes being returned to the lobby. It was almost like people didn’t care anymore.”
With Founder’s Day featuring the annual swearing of the Ephebic Oath, the food drive offers an immediate opportunity after the event to begin committing to the oath.
“These years, that spirit [of giving] has been fading out, and I heard about a lot of boxes going in completely empty,” Ms. Sherman said. “I’d love to see that spirit back with the students again. I encourage the school to try and implement ways to bring back that spirit during the food drive and have students eager to give once again.”
