In November, Gonzaga Prep students collected and delivered more than 115,000 lbs of food to more than 200 families and social service agencies in the Spokane area. And while this one drive can fill a pantry for the holidays, the need continues long after.Students from Gonzaga Prep’s Food Drive committee extended the reach of the Food Drive on Thursday, delivering a check to 2nd Harvest for $10,000. According to 2nd Harvest, every dollar donated can secure 6 pounds of food. That means access to a stable source of sustenance for more families with food insecurity throughout the year.

Here’s a summary of the participation and impact of the 2019 Food Drive:

36 1st period classes collected food this year.

How much food did we collect?

• We estimate the school collected 115,000 pounds.
• With the $6 donated by each student we purchased 250 turkeys and 250 pumpkin pies.

Where did the food go?

• On Nov. 27 students, faculty, staff, parents, and alumni delivered the food to 176 individual families in their homes.
• Deliveries were made to numerous apartment buildings and shelters for formerly homeless families: Pope Francis Haven, Fr. Bach Haven and Buder Haven (50 families each) and St. Margaret’s Shelter (17 families), totaling about 167 families.
• Numerous groups came to Prep and picked up food for their food pantries which they shared with their communities. Those groups included: the Spokane and Colville Native American tribes, Mary Queen food pantry, St. Thomas More food pantry, and the Morning Star Baptist Church. It’s estimated at least 100 families receive help from these groups.
• We donated approximately 15,000 pounds of food to the Second Harvest trailer.

How much money did we collect?

We collected about $15,000.

Where did the money go?

With the $6 donated by each student we purchased 250 turkeys ($4,200) and 250 pumpkin pies ($700).

Many homerooms set aside money collected to go to Second Harvest food bank, totaling $10,000. Second Harvest can turn each dollar donated into 6 pounds of food = 60,000 pounds.

We made small donations to various food banks in North Idaho.