Cincinnati, OH – November 24, 2015 – For the past eleven years, Saint Ursula Academy has hosted a Canned Food Drive to support our neighbors in need. This year’s drive collected food and cash donations for several local organizations and allowed students to show their generosity to those in need.
The 2015 Saint Ursula Academy Canned Food Drive was organized by students from the senior class. Ally Nayak and Caroline Murray from Anderson Township, and Julie Platz from Montgomery began planning last spring for this event with a theme of “Family Food Fight”. The drive kicked off in early October with a pep rally where students were encouraged to “fight” hunger. Over the course of two weeks in late October and early November, students brought in canned food and competed in Advisory Groups to bring in the highest number of cans. Students were encouraged to pre-canvass neighborhoods with flyers and then return to collect donations at a later date. The collection this year supported the Society of St. Vincent dePaul, St. Boniface Food Pantry, and Open Door Ministries in Walnut Hills.
Julie Platz, who served as a student leader, knows the importance of helping others. “There are so many people right in our own neighborhoods who go to bed hungry every night. We are blessed to go to this school and know where our meals are coming from, but there are thousands in the heart of our city who do not have this security. Those who have enough are called to give what they can to help those who having nothing.”
The Drive ended on Friday, Nov. 6 when students loaded over 600 full boxes into trucks to be delivered to the local organizations. Additionally, monetary donations totaling $1,530 were sent to Childhood Food Solutions of Cincinnati, which provides carry-home food assistance to children in low income schools to help sustain them over the weekend.
“Year after year our students step up to meet the adverse challenges of hungry people in the Cincinnati area. The holidays are particularly stressful on poor families who struggle to meet day to day needs, much less provide family meal celebrations most of us are fortunate to enjoy this time of the year,” said Community Service Learning Coordinator Peggy Platz ’84 who has seen this effort grow over the past eleven years. “With the ongoing success of our Canned Food Drive, our school community grows in thankfulness by uniting to meet the needs of others first, which is a lesson in family spoken by St. Angela herself: 'If you all stand united in heart, you will be strong in adversities.' "
As part of the Saint Ursula Academy mission, students are challenged to “build a better world.” The annual Canned Food Drive is one way to encourage students to live this mission in a very concrete way by helping local organizations which help feed the hungry in our community.
Photo Caption: Saint Ursula Academy Students load boxes of canned food into trucks to be delivered to Society of St. Vincent dePaul, St. Boniface Food Pantry, and Open Door Ministries in Walnut Hills
St. Ursula Academy is a Catholic, college-preparatory, secondary school for young women known for academic excellence and rich tradition. St. Ursula welcomes students from more than 70 grade schools in the Greater Cincinnati area. In 2002 the Academy was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a Blue Ribbon School. The campus, located at 1339 E. McMillan Street in East Walnut Hills has been the home of St. Ursula Academy and Convent since 1910. The Class of 2015 earned college scholarships totaling more than $19-million.