Holiday Giving
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A glorious Saturday (Nov. 23) at Jesuit High School provided the perfect backdrop for an amazing finish to the biggest Thanksgiving Basket Drive in school history!
(Click here to view a Spectrum Bay News 9 segment on the basket drive, and click here for Jesuit's video of the drive)
After record-setting student fundraising and a huge late surge of frozen turkey donations, the school community, led by director of community service Andy Wood '92, wrapped it all up Saturday. After Mass in the Chapel of the Holy Cross and breakfast in the cafeteria, hundreds of students and family members then packed and delivered the 315 complete holiday family meals – which included a frozen turkey and all the sides plus essential kitchen items (from the Mothers' Club) and gift cards – to families affiliated with local Boys & Girls Clubs and the Migrant Education Program.
The dozens of extra turkeys, collected last week by the Dads' Club, were taken to local food banks and churches. And on Tuesday (Nov. 25), a check for $7,000 – the extra money raised – will be delivered to Feeding Tampa Bay. FTB will convert the funds into an additional 140 family meals, raising the total impact of the drive to more than 450 families receiving Thanksgiving meals!
Wood launched the drive a month ago, challenging the students in each homeroom to raise more than $500 via weekly collections – enough to guarantee Jesuit can meet its commitment of 315 Thanksgiving baskets. The students responded by raising some $25,000. The money goes toward the bulk purchase of all the sides, plus a $20 Walmart gift card for each basket and the donation to Feeding Tampa Bay.
The turkeys are supplied by the school community via the Jesuit Dads’ Club, which collected the 10- to 14-pound frozen turkeys last week during morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up. And the Mothers' Club collects essential items such as oven mitts, kitchen towels, and serving spoons that are placed in every "basket," the large cardboard boxes that are delivered to more than 300 families.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the success of the 2024 Thanksgiving Basket Drive!
Please view photos below, and go to the Facebook page Jesuit High School of Tampa for many more photos.
