San Ramon Valley High School organized a food drive during Homecoming week among the English classes to participate in. The competition took place from September 15 to September 22nd. All non-perishable food items were donated to Shepherd’s Gate Women’s Shelter.

“We chose Shepherd’s Gate Women’s Shelter specifically for the message they spread and the common goals the organization and our school want to achieve,” leadership student Mikaela Finley (11) stated. Along with Ms. Janet Willford, Finley is one of the student organizers for the food drive. This choice not only reflected the students’ enthusiasm for this cause but also their alignment with the shelter’s mission.

The objective of this food drive was to encourage participation and organization among English classes and at the school. The prize for the winning class that brought in the most food items was a catered lunch party in the school library. 

Competition has a unique way of motivating people. Many high schools around the nation have also arranged food drives. What makes San Ramon Valley High School different is the race behind it. Students are increasingly motivated to donate when there is an incentive. And in this case, every class in San Ramon Valley High School’s English department was motivated to win the catered food lunch party.

The food drive along with other drives San Ramon Valley has done in the past has had more participation & motivation if the school decided to promote the drive as a competition. “Students and teachers can get caught up in the excitement of the ‘game’ and have a desire to want to win,” Finley  stated. 

The school sees the competition as a mutual benefit for themselves and the organization. Not only did it encourage students to come forward and contribute, but it also helped create a sense of community spirit within the school. Also, with more competition, more non-perishable food items would be donated. This also benefited Shepherd’s Gate Women’s Shelter, where the food was being supplied to.

The competition proved to be incredibly successful. Each English class was extremely motivated to win the prize, and the results were outstanding. Ms. Noden’s class came out as winners, having collected 2,324 non-perishable food items. However, the success of the food drive was not just because of one singular class. 

“The best news is that the San Ramon Valley English Department collected over 4,500 non-perishable food items for the Shepherd’s Gate Women’s Shelter in Livermore!” Ms. Willford announced. The success of this event, based on the amount of non-perishable food items collected, shows what can be achieved when a school comes together to support charitable organizations.

San Ramon Valley High School intends to organize many more drives this year and continue holding more food drives in the coming years. The school typically coordinates multiple drives throughout the year including a costume drive, blood drive, toy drive, and many more. “I want to say we have 1 drive every 1-2 months!” Finley stated. “At the moment we do not have another food drive on our schedule for the rest of this year… but we will for sure be doing another one next year!”