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Thanksgiving Basket Drive The Thanksgiving Basket Drive demonstrates the magis and continues to fulfi ll its mission of providing robust Thanksgiving meals for local families in need J esuit High School’s annual monthlong Thanksgiving Basket Drive culminated Sunday, November 20, a few days before the holiday, as Jesuit students delivered 168 abundant Thanksgiving baskets to families in need in the Tampa Bay area. About 150 Jesuit students, along with many family members and Jesuit staff, came to campus Nov. 20 to celebrate Mass and then prepare the “baskets” – large cardboard boxes packed with everything needed for a complete, robust Thanksgiving meal for a large family: frozen turkeys, cooking pans, stuffi ng, potatoes, rice, cranberries, vegetables, gravy, and more. The Jesuit cafeteria was bustling late Sunday morning after Mass, with everyone enjoying breakfast and fi lling up the giant cardboard boxes with Thanksgiving meals. The students then delivered the baskets to families at fi ve area Boys & Girls Clubs, as well as to families connected to the Migrant Education Program, and a few baskets that were delivered directly to private homes. Bay News 9 covered the event, please click the QR code on this page to view the segment from Bay News 9. Also, WTSP-CBS Ch. 10 aired a report about the basket drive. Jesuit’s Director of Community Service, Andy Wood ’92, challenged the student body a month earlier at Convocation to raise more than $300 per homeroom via weekly collections, enough to guarantee the Boys & Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay that Jesuit’s Thanksgiving Basket Drive would deliver 125 baskets. The students responded, exceeding the goal by raising more than $10,000, with an assist from a Jesuit Mothers’ Club bake sale. The successful fundraising enabled the students to provide not only the 125 meals to the Boys & Girls Clubs, but an additional 43 to families via the Migrant Education Program. The money raised was used to bulk purchase all of the food (except the turkeys) and supplies for the baskets, and each basket also included a $50 Walmart gift card. The Jesuit Dads’ Club provided the turkeys, collecting about 300 from the school community. The extra turkeys collected were dispersed by the Dads’ Club to organizations helping those in need. O Scan to view a Bay News 9 video report about the Thanksgiving Basket Drive Director of Community Service Andy Wood ’92 distributes the food Brian Smith ’87 and the Dads’ Club collected 300 turkeys Life on Himes 8 JESUIT PERSPECTIVES • WINTER 2016-17


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