Sachem High Schools Hold Food Drives

Sachem's two high schools might be rivals in many areas, but when it comes to helping the community, North and East play on the same team. During the past few months, dedicated students have devoted their time and energy to making sure that no family in the community will go hungry this Thanksgiving holiday.

After hours spent planning, standing outside supermarkets, and even knocking door-to-door, both food drives culminated this week with assemblies to honor the tireless efforts of the student bodies. Student Government co-advisor Matthew Rivera kicked off East's assembly on Tuesday with an acknowledgement of just how impressive the students’ accomplishments are.

“Food banks all over the island are struggling to help families in need,” Rivera noted. “The economic times have created hardships for a lot of people, but what’s reaffirming and reassuring is that there are people like you guys out there who go above and beyond to put in the effort and energy to help others.”

Principal Rory Manning followed with his own tribute to the students’ efforts, stressing the importance for each individual to recognize what he or she has done for families in need.

“You can imagine how it must feel to wonder whether or not food is coming in to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday,” Manning said. “It’s both emotional and uplifting to know that people like yourselves care.”

Student Government co-advisor William Kropp concluded with an air of mystery, asking the students to focus on the fact that they had helped every family in need rather than on a particular number of boxes. However, senior Student Government President Meagan Doherty revealed that four days before the food drive’s end they had already collected 4,000 pounds of food, not even including the boxes that individual classrooms put together for the cause.

The food collected was distributed to the families of the elementary and middle schools that feed into East, and all additional boxes were donated to the Brookhaven Town Youth Bureau through its INTERFACE Program. Director Donna Napoli was also in attendance to share her gratitude towards the student body on behalf of the Youth Bureau.

North’s food drive concluded just one day later, and was no less impressive in its students’ accomplishments. Student Government co-advisor Gary Comstock noted that the number of families in both Sachem and the Town of Brookhaven requesting assistance this year was greater than ever, but North’s students showed their true colors and rose to the challenge. 

“The students, faculty, and support staff were able to donate 254 turkeys and enough food to feed 1,170 families,” revealed Comstock. “We were lucky in that we had a group of approximately 20 students who called themselves the ‘Dirty Dozen’ and were responsible for feeding 900 families.”

After accomplishing their initial goal, North students extended their community efforts and were able to donate 400 boxes of food to the Lighthouse Mission, a local food pantry based in Patchogue and led by 1989 Sachem graduate, Pastor Jim Ryan.

Despite tough economic times, the Sachem community can take comfort this holiday knowing that not a single family in the Town of Brookhaven will be without a Thanksgiving meal—and that’s something to be thankful for.