Homecoming Food Drive Collects One Ton of Food for Local Community
Every morning, PCA students are challenged to “have a great day and glorify God in everything [they] do.” For some, it’s as simple as helping new students around the school or picking up books a friend dropped. However, last week, PCA students went the second mile, collecting 2,295 pounds of food for the Autauga Interfaith Care Center (AICC) and the Montgomery Area Food Bank (MAFB) during the school’s Homecoming Food Drive.
PCA’s Student Government Association’s Chaplin Eli Staggs partnered with the Chapel Practicum class, led by Scott Schumpert, to host the food drive, count the donations and deliver the food to the two charities. Staggs, a ninth-grader, described the food drive as very stressful but emphasized that “no matter what is going on in the world, God will still show his love and his compassion through me and other students.” Schumpert, PCA’s new campus minister and upper school Bible teacher, aided Staggs by encouraging students to donate and helped plan the class challenge to raise the most food. While PCA has hosted a food drive for homecoming in years past, he was encouraged to see the tradition continue as he wants “our students to be more and more like Christ … He was generous, so we want to have that same spirit.”
And have the same spirit PCA’s students did.
On Monday and Tuesday, PCA students and families raised 1,056 pounds of food for AICC. Over 20 boxes of food were delivered to the Prattville-based charity, which were then unloaded, counted, and organized on shelves to provide assistance to those who are in need. AICC serves residents in Autauga County by providing free boxes of food and organizing clothing drives. “Each night when I sit down at a meal, it is great to know someone else will be provided a meal on their table,” Schumpert said.
On Wednesday and Thursday, PCA students and families went above and beyond for the MAFB, raising a total of 1,239 pounds of food. The MAFB serves Montgomery County and surrounding areas providing service for 35 out of 67 counties in Alabama. Teressa Millwood, the Fund and Food Drive Coordinator and Administration Assistant at the MAFB, described each pound of food being equivalent to one meal for a family in need. “Donations of funds and food mean the world to MAFB; we could not do what we do without the caring support of our community and their donations of funds and food to us,” Millwood said.
With COVID-19 still impacting local communities, both AICC’s and the MAFB’s resources have been stretched thin, but with the generosity of PCA’s families, both organizations will have more supplies to spread through the surrounding areas. “I definitely [gained] plenty of new perspectives with running the food drive…the biggest one was that God shows his love through everyone, not just through me,” Staggs said, adding that if the Lord gives him the opportunity again, he would love to help organize next year’s food drive.
“It gives me great joy to know that PCA’s family has an ‘others first’ attitude,” Schumpert said.
By: Jenna Stilling ’21
Journalism Student
