For at least a decade, Arroyo Grande High School has held its annual food drive during the holiday season. Both students and teachers have come together to donate as many non-perishable food donations as possible.
“Arroyo Grande [High School] has been doing this food drive for more than ten years,” Event Organizer Mike Greenly said.
However, the high school gets help in distributing the donations across the Central Coast.
“The food drive is a collaboration with St. Patrick’s Church across from the school,” Greenly said. “The Church is basically superheading the operation, trying to gather as much food as they can to support families in need along the Central Coast.”
After the donations are gathered, St. Patrick’s Church dispurses the goods in many helpful ways.
“They make Christmas baskets with lots of the donated food,” Greenly said. The baskets include lots of canned food goods that will benefit families in need this holiday season.
To encourage students to participate in the food drive, it became a competition at the school, as to which 4th period class would collect the most amount of non-perishable goods from December 1st to December 5th. Whichever class wins gets the prize of a pizza party.
“Each year we make it a competition to see which class can collect the most amount of food,” Greenly said. Although the food drive has ended, the winners of the competition have not been revealed yet.
While the winners of this year can’t be revealed, there is one class that has not lost the competition in many years.
“I think Mr. Vonderheide hasn’t lost in probably around ten years,” Greenly said.
For students, the food drive is an exciting way to give back to their community.
“I think the food drive is a really good thing for our community because it is a way for students to give back, and also
feel connected to the community,” Aaron Sue said.
Giving back to local people in need is an important thing for all students to do.
“Helping out the community is always a good thing to do,” Kaira Jackson (‘27) said.
The efforts made by the students donating to this cause are always valued throughout the whole community.
“I know that the community really appreciates the donations the school gives out,” Sue said.
The 2025 food drive has come to an end this year, but it has truly helped hundreds of local families.
“This year we had more than 2,300 donations,” Greenly said. The students’ commitment and determination in donating this year will not go unnoticed, as the school is very excited to soon announce the winners.
During the holiday season, it is essential to give back, and the Arroyo Grande High School food drive does just that.
