P.E. teacher and food drive organizer Scott Mehlberg and Principal Matthew Deeds stand with Mrs. Lyon and her fifth grade class, winners of Harrison Elementary’s food drive.

WARSAW — Every year Harrison Elementary School collects food items for Combined Community Services Food-A-Thon.

The Food-A-Thon helps raise food items and money to help stock CCS’s food pantry for the winter months.

“We’re teaching these kids skills of giving back,” stated Harrison Elementary food drive organizer and P.E. teacher Scott Mehlberg. “I really wanted them to not focus on the competition, but that they are giving back to the community.”

Principal Matthew Deeds commented on how the program aligns with Harrison’s mission statement, “Our mission is to inspire and equip all students to continuously acquire and apply knowledge and skills while pursuing their dreams and enriching the lives of others.”

Overall, Harrison students collected over 2,000 food items for CCS and raised roughly $700. For the class competitions students were challenged to see which class could collect the most, with every one dollar donated equating to two food items. The winning class, with 425 items, was Mrs. Monique Lyon’s fifth grade class. “They did outstanding,” boasted Mehlberg, “the fifth grade did awesome.”

As a prize for collecting the most items/money, Mrs. Lyon’s class was able to have a small celebration and take some time out of class to help walk the collected food over to CCS.

“I really wanted them to see where the food goes so they [the kids] know it’s not just about the collection,” said Mehlberg. Mehlberg spoke to the kids about the importance of their donation and what it means to families in need. “This food is going on these shelves and will very quickly be flying off of them,” explained Mehlberg. Peggi Lisenbee, Director of Client Services, agreed with Mehlberg’s statement and thanked the kids for the donations. “It means a lot,” Lisenbee told the kids. “Harrison students always do such a great job.”