Community Council organized a Thanksgiving drive on campus and encouraged students to donate canned goods and hygiene products to the North Hollywood Interfaith Food Pantry from Nov. 9 to 18. The Upper School community surpassed Community Council’s goal of 4,000 donations. Students were divided into their dean groups and competed to gather the greatest amount of goods for a prize.

Community Council promised the school community that if they exceeded their goal, everyone would get free Krispy Kreme donuts. Students in Upper School Dean Sharon Cuseo’s group, who gathered the greatest amount of donations, will receive a pizza party and an opportunity to dunk volunteers in the Dunk Tank.

Community Council member Jade Zoller ’22 said the drive was an excellent opportunity to connect with those outside the school community, and she appreciates the students and faculty members who took time out of their day to donate goods.

“The drive was a great opportunity to connect with both the school community and the greater Studio City community,” Zoller said. “Watching the donation bins overflow with goods was an exciting experience, [and] we are grateful to the students who took time out of their day to contribute to the greater community. The Thanksgiving drive was a huge success, and we cannot wait to pass this tradition on to the next group of Community Council members.”

Peyton West ’23, a member of Cuseo’s dean group, said her participation in the drive was motivated by her past experiences with food pantries.

“Participating in the drive was a meaningful experience,” West said. “Over the spring, I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Hollywood Food Coalition where I observed the challenges of the less fortunate. Seeing the impacts of my service toward others inspired me to continue giving to the community.”

Similar to West, Theia Liu ’24 said she is thankful to Community Council for organizing the drive and allowing her to contribute to the community in ways that were not possible during the pandemic.

“Due to the pandemic, I was not able to volunteer as much as I would have liked,” Liu said. “The Thanksgiving Drive was an awesome opportunity for me to give back to my community in ways that I could not have done over the pandemic. Personally, winning was not particularly important to me, but I do appreciate the rewards organized by Community Council.”