Wade Hampton High School, Can the Principal

Wade Hampton High School, Greenville, SC
Project: Can the Principal (Canned food drive)
Adviser: Beth Leavitt

Each year the National Honor Society chapter at Wade Hampton High School chooses a holiday service project. Special consideration was given to the state of the economy and its impact on the community and the families in the area. The chapter realized that the greatest need was one of the most basic: food. They decided to run a food drive to collect as much canned and non-perishable food as possible to help feed the hungry.

Two organizations were chosen to receive the donations at the conclusion of the contest. The first was the Crisis Center, a place for abused women and their children. The second was Triune Mercy Center, where families and the homeless can receive essential food items and a warm meal.

What originally began as a food drive for the 140 members soon developed into a weeklong school-wide class contest. They named the contest “Can the Principal,” and its mission was to fill  the principal’s office with canned food. While the principal thought his office was big enough to accommodate the cans without impeding his work, the members were hoping to collect enough food to make him somewhat uncomfortable. The winning class would receive a free breakfast provided by the local Hardees® restaurant and the PTSA parents volunteered to cook breakfast casseroles.

The members far exceeded their goals and had the support of the entire school and much of the local community. The local media heard about the drive and sent a TV crew to the school to help kick off the contest. The project became a true service learning activity when a few of the math teachers challenged students to calculate how many cans it would take to fill the office based on volume. Local grocery stores managers told students looking for canned food that they were being tapped out.

This project is now the model by which others in the area will follow. Winning the breakfast was secondary to the good will that came from the event. The executive director of the Crisis Center and the pastor at Triune Mercy Center visited the school late on Friday to see the collection and to be interviewed by the media. When they saw the principal’s office, they were very moved. They said their pantries were bare and this influx of new items was greatly needed.

Overall, the NHS chapter at Wade Hampton High School collected over 6,812 cans of food! By the end of the week, the principal could no longer conduct business in his office and had to hold several interviews in other parts of the building. The NHS members successfully "Canned the Principal!"