SALINAS >> Historically, the Food Bank of Monterey County collects about 150,000 pounds of food during its holiday food drive. And for the last two years, about a 10 percent of those donations have come from Alisal High School students.
Once again, the Trojans surpassed their goal of collecting a record amount of food. This year it was about 16,500 pounds, about 500 more than their collection in 2016.
“It’s feeding community members around us,” said Jasmine Mejia, president of the student body. “We emphasize that the Alisal community is our community.”
On Friday, the students celebrated their efforts with a noon rally at the school’s amphitheater and a presentation of a check symbolic of their efforts.
“We know we’re helping east Salinas, that’s how we drive ourselves,” Mejia said.
Students spend two to three weeks on the food drive, teacher Neil Patel said.
“This is really good,” he said. “It’ll benefit the entire community.”
Quite a few schools in Monterey County donate to the effort, but none contribute as much as Alisal High, said Cathie Montero, programs manager for the Food Bank for Monterey County.
“I don’t think any of them quite come up to the amount that Alisal does,” she said. “We have barrels in elementary, middle and high schools.”
The Food Bank distributes 10 million pounds of food a year. Although their holiday drive is the biggest push of the year, their fundraising efforts are year-round, Montero said.
Jesohala Carrillo, 14, said students in school were excited about having surpassed last year’s record.
“We feel great about it,” she said. The effort “says that our school is not selfish, that we like to give. The more we have, the more we give.”
Now in it’s 12th year, the food drive has grown each year. And even though each generation of students can choose its own programs, the food drive is here to stay, Mejia said.
“We’re really big in traditions,” she said. “It’s automatic. Thanksgiving is coming and we need to give back. We’re trying to make it bigger and instead of changing it just trying to improve it.”
Claudia Meléndez Salinas can be reached at 831-726-4370.
