The Shorecrest Food Drive ended on Thursday, December 7th, with thousands of items collected for families in need. Mr. Mitchell’s Highlander Home, the winner of this year’s competition, had collected over 2,400 points worth of food and received a well earned homemade breakfast, courtesy of the culinary arts program. During the food drive, competing Highlander Homes collected as much nonperishable food items as they could, with Mac and Cheese being a focus item, worth extra points. At the end, boxes of donated Mac and Cheese could be seen towering over students during lunch in the commons, and reaching well over the divider while being contained in its haphazard structure. Yet, this year’s food drive was different from previous years. Most notably, several of the top Highlander Homes this year, including the winner and runner up, had barely participated last year.

“Mitchell’s HiHo never really got a lot in the past food drives,” said senior Zack Zaike in an interview, “we were one of those HiHos that got like one or two boxes and maybe a bag.” Shorecrest Senior Ashley Aversano, who transferred into Mr. Kidd’s Highlander Home this year,  claimed to have heard rumors of Kidd’s Highlander Home doing the same. Though no one knows what made this year different from previous years, the effects served to unite the student body. “It definitely showed us how well we can work together,” said Aversano, “you really got to know the people, and you really got to mess around with your friends while doing something good.”

The food, which has been donated to a local food drive, will help poor families in Shoreline stay afloat in the winter, a time that often involves more expenses than the rest of the year. With everything from winter clothes to heating, December is often the hardest month for those below the poverty line, but the thousands of non perishable food items donated could help to feed hundreds of families this season.