Edgewood Middle School hosts its 15th annual food drive at both Owens in Warsaw.

WARSAW — Edgewood Middle School kicked off its 15th annual food drive at Owens Wednesday, Dec. 6, and Thursday, Dec. 7, to collect non-perishable food items for Combined Community Services and Our Father’s House. The event will run 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 11, through Friday, Dec. 15 as well as 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9.

“We see a need in our community.  We donate a lot of our stuff to Combined Community Services because we see a need in the community. We want to help out in anyway we can,” stated Edgewood teacher David Cook.

However, this year Edgewood headed into the event knowing CCS and Our Father’s House “face [one of] the largest demands [the] areas has seen in quite some time.”  In an effort to meet those demands, Edgewood students work on their public speaking skills as they greet shoppers and tell them about the drive.

But the drive goes beyond collecting food. It helps the students see the process of a food drive from beginning to end rather than just bringing in cans of food and never seeing where it goes. “It means more to them than them saying, ‘Hey mom, can you buy this for this reason?’” said Cook. “They’re putting in time into the community and seeing what time can do because it’s not an infinite resource, and it’s something one person can never fulfill.”

And year after year the drive seems to have a significant impact for CCS and Our Father’s House. Cook recounted a year where a worker at CCS cried when she received the call from Edgewood, informing her of its stocked donations. “We actually helped sustain them through the holidays, through some extra time. It was just really, really cool to see that we could help meet that need,” said Cook.

Owens has become a big partner for Edgewood in the school making a difference in the community. While many other establishments in the area closed their doors to the middle school, Owens has allowed students to return year after year to inform shoppers of their cause and collect items. “We cannot thank Owens enough,” explained Cook. “They allow us to come in here and stand and talk to customers, and they’ve allowed us to do it for years.”