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Southern Middle gets competitive with food drive for End Hunger
Friday, Oct. 30, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos by DARWIN WEIGEL
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There was a three-week-long food fight at Southern Middle School and the administrators were the most competitive participants.
The food, however, was not thrown from student to student, but instead loaded into boxes to be donated to the End Hunger in Calvert County initiative, run through Chesapeake Church in Huntingtown.
The more than 3,000 pounds of food collected was transported by truck on Wednesday.
Reading teacher and Student Government Association supervisor Meredith Skotnicki co-coordinated the initiative with community outreach coordinator Sandra Derr, whose group weighed the food daily.
Skotnicki explained that administrators revved students up to donate by making it a competition between the grades.
"The administrators were really competitive with their groups," she said, continuing that Principal Sylvia Lawson and Vice Principal Jaime Webster offered rewards like free seating at lunch as incentives to donate as many canned and boxed foods and hygiene supplies as possible.
Their motivation must have worked, as Skotnicki said the school tripled the amount collected last year.
"I'm very happy with the amount of food we collected for a great cause and I'm very happy that SGA played a direct role in it," she said, adding that Southern Middle's student government gave students a ticket for each product brought in and the tickets ultimately went into a drawing for three free passes for an upcoming school dance.
It was ultimately the eighth grade that brought in the most food, with seventh coming in a close second, according to Skotnicki, who said the winning grade will receive a "to be determined" prize.
SGA members helped to load the food on Wednesday and said they were proud of themselves and their peers.
"It helps out the people who are hungry and I think we've got a lot of stuff here," said Samantha McCloskey, 13.
Her classmate Darlene Welling, 13, said she was not surprised by the amount of those without food in Calvert County, "because of the economy, and because people are getting laid off from their jobs and money is really tight."
Matt Claffee, 12, said he supported the cause on two occasions: through school and also at The Second Annual Concert to End Hunger in Calvert County, held Oct. 10.
"It's a good cause to help people who don't have money to pay for food," he said.
Webster said he was thrilled to see how excited students were about the initiative.
"They were filling boxes left, right and center … We were trying to get them to be competitive, but the bigger message is for the community," Webster said.
Twelve-year-old Breanna Parran said that she understood this message.
"Whoever wins gets a prize, but most [importantly] we're helping the hungry and that's why I'm doing this."
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