Jesuit High School Sacramento is hosting its annual Food Drive between Nov. 27 and Dec. 8. Students can participate by volunteering or donating money and canned food. The proceeds from this event will go to Stanford Settlement’s annual winter drive to provide food for people in need over the winter season.

Director of Student Activities Jack Payant ’24 explains how the food drive benefits the local community.

“[Jesuit] gives upwards of 700 families good meals over the Christmas season, and it’s very important,” Jack Payant said. 

Jesuit’s executive council aims to collect 100,000 pounds of food this year, and is encouraging all students to participate. The student council also hopes that the food drive brings students closer together.

“We’re working really hard as a student council in two ways,” Mr. Trivitz said. “We’re trying to increase giving – we want the biggest food drive that we’ve ever seen, and we want as many students to participate as possible. At the same time, we also want a community-focused event where students feel that they belong.” 

The food drive places an excellent focus on building community in order to enhance charitable works, both important aspects of Jesuit life.

“The main goal is to give food and financial resources to the Stanford Settlement to help with their Christmas food drive.” Mr. Trivitz said, “I think a secondary goal is to build community and spirit here at Jesuit to reestablish or maybe underline the fact that the food drive is who we are and it’s the best of what we do.”

“There’s going to be a lot of fun,” Jack said. “But the main thing is to know that we’re here to help people. To boost that, we have a lot of community building things going on, so keep watch.”

The food drive offers a great opportunity for our community to grow in commitment to justice, which helps us further the spiritual goals we are called to at Jesuit.

“Our ‘Grad at Grad’ profile and our spirituality includes being committed to justice; the food drive is a hands-on way for us to practice that,” Mr. Trivitz said. “Giving, and the spirit of giving in Advent, especially, is rewarding. It’s not the main reason we do things, but certainly as we give, we ourselves are blessed by that.”

For spiritual, communal, and especially charitable reasons, the student council and school administration are encouraging students to donate to the food drive this Advent season. Be sure to show up and pursue our Jesuit mission.