Adams Student Council is coordinating the Canned Food Drive, which will take place November 17-22. During this week, students can contribute canned goods and money, all of which will be donated to the Rochester Area Neighborhood House Food Pantry.

This year’s competition is “Hunger Games: Mockingjay” themed with 16 teacher “tributes” volunteering to compete. The competition will be set up in a bracket similar to March Madness. Students can fill out brackets and make predictions as to which teachers they expect to win for the chance to win a prize.

Last year, Adams donated a total of 36,000 cans to Neighborhood House. Hopefully, this year will be just as successful in order to fill the pantry shelves in time for the holiday season.

“Even though we are making the Canned Food Drive more competitive this year, we still want to focus on charity and giving back to our community,” said Student Council representative junior Nell Brigoli.

German teacher Mrs. Janie Barner raises money throughout the school year and donates the proceeds to Habitat for Humanity. This year, she is a teacher “tribute” for the Canned Food Drive, but she does not care about winning. Her sole reason for competing is to collect cans for a worthy cause and help those in need.

“It doesn’t make a difference to me how they do the competition. I just want to make sure the emphasis is on the right reasons. The competition is cute, but I don’t give a hoot whether or not I win,” said Barner.

Last year’s Canned Food Drive was won by English teacher Mr. Dave Lovalvo, who did not start participating in the competition until three years ago when his daughter encouraged him to join the event.

“I think the Canned Food Drive is one of the coolest things we do here at Adams because it helps so many people,” said Lovalvo.

This year’s Canned Food Drive has already started for Lovalvo, as his students have already donated 454 cans.

According to Lovalvo, “Nothing is free, but I will do things that stimulate students’ generosity because I believe this is a cause that helps people.”

Behind the rivalry and excitement of the Canned Food Drive week, it seems that the underlying reason for students’ and teachers’ generosity is the desire to donate to a worthy cause and feed those who would otherwise go hungry this upcoming holiday season. Just as Barner’s sign states, together we “CAN” make a difference!