Amaya Trost, an eighth grader at Whiteaker Middle School, worries about families without enough money to afford a Thanksgiving meal.
So do Mariyah Child, Haley Jones and Sarah Salcido Hernandez, also eighth graders.
The four are among students in Amber Sweeney’s Whiteaker leadership class who are determined to help those families.
On Saturday, Nov. 22, they will launch “Stuff the Bus” at the Keizer Safeway in partnership with Dayspring Fellowship. This is the 12th year for the Whiteaker effort.
From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., students will try to round up enough food to feed 200 families. They’ll be at the store, taking donated food and cash donations. The food all goes into a school bus, to be taken to the church to be boxed for distribution.
The four Whiteaker students recently talked with Keizertimes about the effort.
“We’re going to help get food for people that can’t afford it,” Child said.
“This is going to help a lot of families in the Salem-Keizer area who maybe don’t have enough money for Thanksgiving dinner,” Jones said.
Jones said the students will do the shopping if people prefer to donate money instead of food.
For those willing to shop and provide food, the students are seeking turkey, roasting pans, stuffing, canned corn or beans, cranberry sauce, gravy mix, rolls, and butter.
Will they be nervous asking the community to help?
Salcido Hernandez: “I’ll be helping people so I won’t be nervous.”
Jones: “I might be nervous but it’s going to be a good experience.”
Child: “I might be a little bit nervous because I haven’t really done anything like this.”
Trost: “I’ll get over it because I’ll think about how I’m helping people.”
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