From gathering to sorting to packing, the Academy community serves 32 local families in its annual Kids 4 Kids food and clothing drive. (Collage compiled by Andrew Barren’22)
Under the dirction of Service Board Director, Mrs. Bening, and Service president, Caroline Mallory, the Academy community came together again to make this year’s Kids 4 Kids a school-wide venture. The drive ran from October 29 to November 9, with students and staff gathering food and clothing for the 32 local families that Academy will sponsor. Mrs. Bening said, “The families come from anywhere in Franklin County, and almost everyone of them lives at the poverty level and almost everyone of them has a child with a special need.”
Before Kids 4 Kids, Academy participated in The Holiday Project to aid families in Central Ohio. For The Holiday Project, food and clothing collections took place through January. To better accommodate the sponsored families, Academy made the switch to Kids 4 Kids, so families could receive winter clothing earlier in the season.
All three school divisions pitched in to keep Kids 4 Kids running smoothly. The lower school went on field trips to Meijer and purchased toiletries and perishable foods. The middle school sorted food items to create a pantry-like set up in the Barton Room Lobby and “shopped” for each of the sponsored families. The upper school brought in over 4,000 items of non-perishable food and carted donations left at the carpool lanes to the Barton Room Lobby.
On Halloween, October 31, many upper schoolers also participated in the “Begging for Cans” event in a nearby neighborhood and collected non-perishable food items for the food drive.
Upper school students then joined forces with the Ohio Junior Classical League Executive Board on Saturday, November 10, to set up a store of clothing and toy donations for families at the Childhood League Center. Afterwards, the volunteers helped watch children while their parents shopped and loaded items into their cars.
On Saturday, November 17, some of Academy’s 32 sponsored families received their items at the Childhood League Center. The remaining families will receive their items at Siebert Elementary on November 19.
