The Thanksgiving Food Drive, a long-standing Delbarton tradition, was underway on November 10 as Deaneries got together to load a truck full of food for the Interfaith Food Pantry in Morris Plains. This year, our community raised 8,801 pounds of food for the greater Morristown community members who may be struggling for food this holiday season.

The procedure for the Thanksgiving Food Drive has changed over the past couple of years as Deaneries no longer compete with one another to see who can donate the largest weight total. This method of collection often encouraged students to bring the heaviest possible items rather than items the Food Pantries were always in need of.

Instead of competition among Deaneries, all students worked together to see the total of the collection as high as possible. To stay on target and maximize the number of items needed, the Interfaith Food Pantry sent over a list ahead of time. These items ranged from baby food and diapers to pasta and oatmeal. Each deanery was assigned 4-5 items per group to be collected, packaged up and loaded onto an 18-wheeler, kindly by John Harrington P ‘18 to help with the collection.

On collection day, it was all hands on deck. With the guidance of the Deanery Junior and Senior Leaders, students were able to package the food and load the truck in just over 30 minutes, ensuring that they would not miss any class time. The truck was then sent on its way to Interfaith Food Pantry to be unloaded Friday. "The students were so focused and excited on Friday as they unloaded the truck, was just so great to see the teamwork and the spirit of service and giving," said Education Coordinator Kiley Powell from Interfaith Food Pantry. We thank all members of the community who donated and assisted in another successful year of the Thanksgiving Food Drive!