Storm Lake St. Mary's student organizes food drive to benefit school families

By RENEE WEBB
Content and Design Coordinator

When a dance team member at St. Mary’s School in Storm Lake saw that the Iowa State Dance and Drill Team Association (ISPTA) was promoting a care initiative she wanted to become involved.

“On social media, I saw other teams were doing service projects with the #ISDTACares,” said Ruby Phelps, a junior at St. Mary’s. “I had just spoken with Mrs. Amy Halder and had discussed the food insecurity within our school system. I knew that I wanted to take action and figured this was the perfect opportunity.”

Given that ISPTA planned to close on the initiative on Nov. 1, Phelps got to work in quick order to organize a food drive earlier this month. Coordinating the project, she worked with school administrators as well as the parish.

“As I looked into it, I realized how easy it would be to do a project to earn this recognition (for the dance team),” she said, noting that dance teams participating in this initiative will be recognized at the state dance championships. “The ISDTA Cares Initiative was created to encourage dance teams in the state to make a meaningful impact on those in need through service in their local communities.”

The collection at St. Mary’s was first organized in the school, but Phelps realized greater support could come from the community as well. With that in mind, donations were collected from both students and parishioners.

St. Mary's Dance Team with food collected.

While the food drive actually concluded last weekend, she said donations are always welcome and can be brought to the school office with a note describing their intent.During the food drive, Phelps mentioned she felt an overwhelming amount of support from school administration, faculty and staff. 

And even though the dance team will be recognized for this effort, Phelps stressed that was not the driving force for undertaking the ISDTA Cares St. Mary’s Food Drive.

“This project was done because I recognized a need within the school and wanted to find a way to fulfill it,” she said. “I am so incredibly grateful for the support from everyone and am excited to see this work make an impact on our school family.”

Phelps pointed out she is fortunate to have what she needs but is aware that is not the case for all St. Mary’s students.

“I want those students to be able to come to school and eat lunch and trust that they can go home and have another meal that night,” she said. “It was important to me that I did something to help out. Hopefully, this food drive is a starting point for the assistance program and we can continue to grow our support network from here on out.”

During the food drive, they mainly collected individually packaged foods and family size meals such as macaroni and cheese, Hamburger Helper, soup, etc.

“The results from the drive exceeded my expectations,” said Phelps. “With the limited time frame, I was worried kids would not get items to bring in soon enough, so I was surprised to find bags in nearly every classroom throughout the school.”

To try to encourage more students to bring in items, they held a competition between grades. In the end, a prize with be awarded to the senior class thanks in part to a grant received from Thrivent Financial Services in Storm Lake.

She also commended contributions from the parish, noting that some parishioners have asked how they can provide additional assistance in the future.

Items collected through this drive will help families from St. Mary’s and will be distributed through a process coordinated by Amy Halder, the school’s student and family advocate.

“This food drive helps fill a need for many of our students and families,” stressed Halder. “Nearly 50% of our students qualify for free and reduced lunch. Budgets are stretched and many families will experience greater hardship in November as SNAP benefits are delayed. Ruby's food drive has perfect timing.”

The student and family advocate said being able to provide an extra bag or two of groceries to families this month will make a big difference in the lives of St Mary's families. 

The dance team has offered to assist Halder with packing individual bags of items that can be sent home to students to share with their families.

“I have been impressed by Ruby's initiative to take on this important project,” said Halder. “She is a humble, servant leader and embodies the work of Christ in all she does. I am honored to work alongside her as she takes the lead on this project. We need more Rubys in this world.”

It is through her Catholic school education that Phelps mentioned she realized that by taking part in the works of mercy such as feeding the hungry, it is a way to serve the Lord.

“The kindness and generosity showcased by the students and parishioners demonstrates the virtue of charity towards our neighbors we have been called to give,” she said. “The project truly serves as a form of worship towards the Lord and a way to give witness to Christ’s love in the world.”

She cited Proverbs 22:9 – “Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor.”