The 2016 Thanksgiving Food Drive has concluded, and it was a smashing success. The annual Food Drive began as a Delbarton tradition many years ago, as a small collection of various individual cans, which were then donated to those who needed them. Since then, the food drive has evolved into a massive project, annually collecting around 50,000 pounds of food and almost single-handedly supplying the Morristown Community Soup Kitchen for the whole year.

This year, repeating last year, the drive was located away from the school itself, at an old church building near South Gate. Storage limitations at the normal facility meant that collecting food on a large truck in the Bus Loop could not occur as it had in past years. Volunteers were surprised to find that much of the corn and green beans from last year were still in the building. As it turned out, the soup kitchen had too much of those particular foods! As such, Delbarton families were steered away from buying them, which made it somewhat harder to get more pounds (corn and green beans have a fantastic weight-to-price ratio). Even still, through the immense generosity of everyone involved, the Delbarton community surpassed its goal of 50,000 pounds, collecting a grand total of 51,300 pounds.

As the leader of the drive, I’d like to recognize the efforts of a few individuals and groups. The Polar Bears mauled all the competition in the deanery tournament, more than doubling the total of their closest competitors, the White Sharks, and the third-place deanery, the Skipjacks. I also need to personally thank the most volunteering students by name. I salute Justin Yang ’18, Connor Dolan ’17, Steven Hadley ’17, Hunter Waldis ’17, Shane Ford ’17, Milton Zuanic ’17, Chris Agugliaro ’17, Mike Ritardi ’18, and anyone else who I might be forgetting.

The Food Drive has often been associated with my immediate family, as my older brothers and I have led it for many years now. As a senior, this year constitutes my farewell to many events, but parting with the Food Drive is especially difficult. Yet, I am certain that the future of the Food Drive is in good hands and the project will continue to prosper. The school will now look ahead, not behind, to achieve new heights, greater records, and more impactful service.

Speaking of looking to the future, the Delbarton Christmas Gift Drive will be starting up momentarily. Gifts will be collected during deanery sessions on December 9th. Students are expected to donate 2-3 toys each. In addition, each deanery has been assigned a specific subset of gifts to get based on age and gender of the child (for example, 2-4 year old girls). The Gift Drive provides hundreds of gifts to children who might otherwise receive nothing at this festive time of year. At a later date, students can also volunteer to help distribute the gifts.