Over 5000 pounds was the total amount of food donated by Oxford Preparatory School students to ACIM this year. In the year 2014 a mere 117 students at Oxford Preparatory School collected almost 1800 pounds of food and donated it to ACIM. This year Vici Bradsher, Assistant Director, issued a challenge to the 230 OPS students to double that amount, and double it they did! Under the leadership of the OPS Beta Club, students were asked to form teams and begin collecting cans. The winning teams would then deliver the food to ACIM. The team of Brian Burch, Hailey Pendergrass and Dylan Loznicka collected over 800 cans from friends, family and neighbors. The team of Haley Hight, Montana Hamlin, Chelsea Gatewood, Caleb Hunt, Autumn Brantley and Camri Ross was not to be outdone and collected over 1600 cans. The entire school worked together to collect over 8000 cans for a total of more than 5000 pounds of food! Beta Club member John Glover stated, “This is really exciting to see what we can all do when we work together.” Sean Burch, another member of Beta Club, noted that, “I was really tired after loading and unloading all those cans. But this was one of the most rewarding things I have done.” Montana Hamlin who was a member of the winning team both years said “I really enjoyed this last year and I knew I wanted to do whatever was necessary to do this again. It feels good knowing I am helping someone else.”
Students spent several hours loading trucks and trailers and then traveling to ACIM where they unloaded the trailers, organized the food and helped ready it for distribution. According to Sue Hinman, ACIM director, “This is the most food we have ever had in the building all at one time. This will help us feed a lot of families.” After putting the food up, Mrs. Hinman shared with students the process she uses when providing food to those in need. Families can only obtain food from ACIM one time each month. Students observed how much food each family was given and were surprised to learn this would have to last an entire month. Mrs.Hinman also helped students to understand how many families we have in Granville County who may be in need. In one day alone, she and her staff had provided food for 76 families.
Every student at Oxford Preparatory School is required to complete 15 hours in service to our local community. “The community has been wonderful to us and this is one way we can give back,” said Assistant Director and Beta Club adivisor Victoria Bradsher. “I am proud to be able to serve the students and their families at Oxford Prep.They are always willing to go above and beyond in everything they do. I am also so very excited to see students from West Oxford, JF Webb and other schools serving our community as well. It is gratifying to know that our future will be in the hands of students all around our county who care for others.”
