The Aquilian
December 2021 Volume 83 Number 3
Gonzaga College High School Men For Others Since 1821
19 Eye St, NW Washington, DC 20001
Photo By: Peter Mildrew ‘22
Gonzaga: Can’s Best Friend Over the course of the first week of November, Gonzaga held its annual National Honor Society Canned Food Drive. In total, the Gonzaga community was able to raise over 7,000 pounds of food for the Fr. McKenna Center, which will, in turn, make available the fundraised foodstuffs in their food pantry. The homeless day shelter also operates as a makeshift grocery store, providing necessities to 170 patrons on average monthly, and according to Emily Dold, Volunteer Organizer of the center, the food pantry “wouldn’t be able to survive” without Gonzaga’s donations. A main focus of this year’s
canned food drive, organized by myself, Dr. Miller, and the other National Honor Society (NHS) officers, was to shift the perspective of the foodraiser. Instead of advertising solely for competitive reasons, (in previous years Gonzaga has primarily communicated the “points system” between homerooms and a possible day off of school if enough cans were brought in) this year NHS members emphasized the importance of what our donations actually do. As such, (with the help of Ms. Murphy’s seniors in her Social Justice in Action class) members of the NHS dropped by homerooms and Freshman Foundation classes to spread awareness of food insecurity in our community, and in the US as a whole.
These 15-minute presentations featured the significance of learning about food deserts, systemic issues that lead to food insecurity, and the faces of those who are most disproportionately affected by such injustices. By shifting our perspective of what hunger really is, we hoped that more students would feel inclined to participate in helping out our community. In DC’s Ward 6, in particular, food insecurity is at its highest level among all other wards, and since Gonzaga is right in the heart of this ward, it was especially poignant to hold such teachins. A main challenge that became apparent during this year’s food drive, however, was communication. Many
factors contributed to making advertisement difficult. After returning from a previously virtual and hybrid school year, we knew that more advertisement would be necessary. Especially since more than half of the student body is practically new to the Gonzaga experience, the NHS team realized that this would be a tough task to tackle. In addition to the new student body, Gonzaga has recently enjoyed an tsunami of new teachers and a shift in administrative positions, leaving many students wondering what’s even happening on a day-to-day basis. Unfortunately, the culmination of all of these factors led to a lessthan-expected haul in can totals, despite last-minute efforts, with some students
Gonzaga Hockey, 2
Christmas Songs PR, 5
College Football, 6
Gonzaga Basketball, 8
By: Peter Mildrew ‘22 Editor
even going as far to post on social media advertising their Venmo accounts in hopes of receiving donations that would fund Walmart trips during lunch on the last day of the campaign. The NHS Canned Food Drive, although lighter in total numbers than past years, has proven to be one of the many ways in which Gonzaga is able to give back, and as a result, the McKenna Center is able to remain a stalwart day shelter for those in need. Seeing the immense piles of cans is reason enough to keep this Gonzaga tradition going, but knowing that we, as a community, aid in ending food insecurity is, above all, why Gonzaga is the school it is.