Bins labeled by grade level sit in South Forsyth High School’s entry way to accept donations for the “Food Fight.” The competition with West generated 9,924.4 lbs of food for The Place of Forsyth, a local food pantry. (The Bird Feed Staff)
Bins labeled by grade level sit in South Forsyth High School’s entry way to accept donations for the “Food Fight.” The competition with West generated 9,924.4 lbs of food for The Place of Forsyth, a local food pantry.
When a school administrator hears the words “food fight,” it would normally be cause for panic – but this October, South Forsyth administrators Dr. Wendy Shrader and Mr. Scott McCloy were excitedly encouraging students to participate in exactly that.
Instead of hurling food across the cafeteria, both South Forsyth and West Forsyth High Schools spent a month tossing donations of food items into bins to benefit The Place of Forsyth, a local food pantry that assists low-income families with essential needs. The school with the greatest amount of donatable food by the last football game of the regular season would win the “Food Fight.”
Dr. Shrader worked personally with The Place of Forsyth to identify the dire need for community donations, especially with the holiday season coming up.
(From left to right) National English Honor Society (NEHS) members Matt Craig and Josh Wilson donate canned goods to the Food Fight cause. NEHS awarded its members with an hour of service if they brought in food items at their November meeting. (Maggie Craig)
“When I talked to The Place of Forsyth, I really didn’t know much about them. I just called them and said, ‘Do you want us to help you?’” Dr. Shrader said. “The woman who runs the food pantry came and met me, and she expressed how they were in dire need of food donations, and so it hit home for me. This is really going to make a difference.”
On Nov. 4th, after a full month of fundraising activities and challenges, the schools announced during halftime of the South v. West football game that the weight of all donations from both schools totaled 9,942.4 lbs, with South contributing the most to the weight total, or 5,806.4 lbs.
The generosity from both schools filled up the shelves at The Place’s Food Pantry, and South students enjoyed themselves along the way.
‘Recess’ for a Cause
One way South encouraged its students to donate was by hosting its first”Recess” to support the Food Fight. During Instructional Flex (IF) on Oct. 26th, students were able to participate in familiar playground activities for an entrance fee of $6.
During Recess, South Forsyth clubs and organizations set up different nostalgic games around the Stadium and inside the Blue Gym to remind students of fun activities they used to do in elementary school.
For example, the IF Student Ambassadors set up a sack race in the middle of the football field to create friendly competition between classmates. Students hopped in sacks, racing to the finish line to earn some bragging rights.
Many other South clubs created a fun, childlike environment reminiscent of elementary school recess to help support the cause. The Senior Beta organization arranged a cornhole game in the end zone of the football field, the cross country team played ultimate frisbee throughout the field, the Student Government Association (SGA) brought out a giant Jenga set and the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) had a unique cup game inside the Blue Gym and gave out Ring Pops to its competitors.
“My favorite part of recess was engaging in teamwork activities and hanging out outside on the fields with friends,” said junior Jocelyn Wang. “Activities like giant Jenga, kickball and the sack race were entertaining games to play and make new friends.”
South's Student Government Association stack a game of giant Jenga along the track. Students stopped by to play the ginormous version of a classic game.
A Community Effort
While Recess presented a huge push for donations for the Food Fight, SFHS had other methods of improving participation and driving donations. Dr. Wendy Shrader, South’s 9th Grade Administrator and one of the organizers of the Food Fight, believed that emails and online reminders were a very effective way to involve the student body and their families.
“I was communicating with parents and students, and we got a lot of monetary donations online and through GoFan,” said Dr. Shrader.
South Forsyth also had large bins in the atrium for each grade level so while South was competing with West, the grade levels at South were competing against each other. According to Mr. Scott McCloy, another South Administrator and organizer of the Food Fight, the “visibility” of the bins reminded students of the competition.
Donations from West Forsyth HS and South Forsyth HS (and feeder schools) to The Place Food Pantry weighed in at 9,942.4 pounds! We won the trophy this year w/a total of 5,806.4 pounds. Thank you to students and parents whose generosity will feed local families. @FCSchoolsGApic.twitter.com/uqMjjtQ9IK
“I am really impressed with how much the South Forsyth High School community supported the Food Fight,” said Dr. Shrader. “It was a fun event to do here…and it’s a way for us to give back while staying local in Forsyth.”
Even though the Food Fight is over at South Forsyth, the fight against poverty still has a long way to go. There are many families in need here in Forsyth county, and The Place of Forsyth constantly needs volunteers and donations all year round.
You can donate to the organization here and check out their website for more ways to become involved.
Maggie Craig is currently a senior at SFHS and is super excited to be this year's Editor-in-Chief for The Bird Feed. If she isn’t writing stories, you will find her jamming out on her guitar or ukulele. She is a performer at heart and is a member of the voice company at RISPA. Maggie loves musicals such as Waitress and Miss Saigon. In her spare time, she binge-watches anime and plays on her Nintendo Switch. Never hesitate to approach her and say hello because she loves meeting new people. You can contact her through her email @[email protected] or through her Twitter @Smrcraig108.
The Bird Feed is the student news site of South Forsyth High School. We serve the student body by providing timely and relevant content to our readers.
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