The holiday season is stereotypically filled with love, family, and delicious food. However, this is unfortunately not a reality for all. To combat this and help create a more comfortable season for our community, Bay Shore, specifically the Peer Support Club, organized a fall food drive. The preparation for this took place weeks before Thanksgiving and the families were given their food on the evening of Nov. 22 and the morning of Nov. 23.
Some of the biggest organizers of this event were the school’s social workers, including Katie Kelly, Peer Support organizers, such as Gabriela Calderon-Espinal, Peer Support members, and members of the local Lions Club.
This important event that creates a significant impact in so many families’ lives has been happening for many years. It is a beautiful Bay Shore tradition.
“The food drive has been around as long as Peer Support has been around! For over 40 years the Bay Shore High School community (faculty, administrators and other staff included) have contributed to our Thanksgiving program,” said Kelly.
In terms of the actual process of this event, there were many steps and people involved, leading to this food drive taking months to successfully happen.
“There are several parts to this event: social workers identify and contact families, Peer Support and other clubs collect donations, staff members contribute gift cards and food, and our local Lions Club provides gift cards for turkeys as well; students volunteer to make the baskets, and social workers and volunteers distribute the baskets to families,” said Kelly.
To begin, one of the initial steps of this process is the collection of food and donations outside of local supermarkets.
“With a group, we went to Stop & Shop to collect non-perishable items for the holidays. I was there from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. We stood outside and gave little papers to those who were entering the supermarket. In our group we frequently rotated roles. Some held signs while the others handed in the papers,” said junior Cristal Paez Abreu, who is also a member of Peer Support.
This proves that many students put their time and energy into helping less fortunate families in the community. This is not an easy task and the students approached it with dedication and passion in helping others.
Another one of the most important steps of this event is the creation of the actual baskets, done mostly by Peer Supporters and student volunteers in the time out room of the high school.
“We paired up Peer Supporters to go ‘shopping’ for a particular family. It was wonderful to see our very own high school students work together to make someone else’s holiday special,” said Social Studies teacher, ENL teacher, and one of the Peer Support organizers, Gabriela Calderon-Espinal.
Adding on to this,“In Peer Support the idea of mentor and mentee is used. Upperclassmen are mentors, while underclassmen are mentees. With my mentee, we were assigned a family of four. That day, it was complete chaos in the TOR. Different groups trying to get their baskets completed and ready to go,” said Paez Abreu.
Each family was specifically taken into consideration while making the baskets and they were given not only foods for the holiday season, but also foods that can be helpful in general and can make a big difference in someone’s life.
“[We collected] non-perishable food. We got lots of mac and cheese, gravy, mashed potatoes, jelly, peanut butter, mayo, stuffing, juice, water, pasta, canned food, corn, etc,” said Paez Abreu.
Not only does this event benefit families in need, it also strengthens the bonds of Bay Shore in general.
“I think that the message of this food drive is community,” said Calderon. “The power of community is so strong. It is proven to us time and time again that when we work together we can accomplish amazing things. Bay Shore is special in this regard too, we have a strong community.”
This mindset can be seen across the board, among everyone involved in this event.
“Peer Support is extremely proud to be connected to the event however this is really a community effort,” said Kelly. “We are extremely proud of Bay Shore and everyone who comes together to support our families in need”
Overall, this event has the ability to change people’s lives and over the decades that it has been in place, it has impacted countless people.
“Being able to say to my family that I contribute to help others have food on the table for the holidays just warms my heart,” said Paez Abreu. “I truly hope that those who receive the baskets enjoy it as much as we enjoy making them…This Food Drive connects to the community of [Peer Support] because we are helping families and giving them our support. Making those families feel included, loved, seen, and heard.”
This food drive has the ability to touch many lives and truly make a difference in the holiday seasons, and in general, for families of the Bay Shore community. It proves to be a beautiful experience for everyone involved, from the teachers, to the student volunteers, to the people receiving the donations.
