About 600 St. Joseph residents will come home to a grocery bag with a label on their doors today.
The St. Joseph-Ogden FFA students placed bags throughout town Friday morning in hopes of collecting at least 2,500 canned or nonperishable items for the food pantry this weekend.
Students will canvas neighborhoods again during their day off of school Monday to collect those items from residents.
“The food pantry kind of relies on us this time of year. Their supply kind of diminishes slowly after Christmas,” SJ-O junior and FFA Reporter Mallory Ames said.
An annual FFA activity, the food drive began within the walls of St. Joseph-Ogden High School years ago. Fulfilling their mission to include the community in activities, the FFA decided to include residents of St. Joseph and elementary and middle school districts in Royal, Ogden and Flatville.
“It’s one of the bigger community service projects we do. We really want to make a good impression on the community,” Ames said.
Ames, who joined FFA as a freshmen to spend more time with her best friend, said that she quickly learned that the organization is more than just a club for kids who grow up on farms.
“Especially at our school, we range from the kids who live right in the middle of St. Joseph to rural Ogden, to pretty much anywhere and everywhere because we are all different, and we all come together because we have a desire to spread agriculture around for the people who don’t know,” she said.
The food drive is their way of kicking off that community educational opportunity. Next week, SJ-O will join other FFA organizations worldwide in celebrating FFA Week.
Local FFA officers spend much of the year planning the activities that get both the school and the community involved.
Most noticeably, students will participate in spirit activities, including dress-up days.
When students return to school on Tuesday, they will be encouraged to dress like twins. Newcomers to FFA will receive their Greenhand Degree after their first year of completion. To raise awareness for the organization, those member paint one hand green during Tuesday so school members know who to ask for more information.
Ames said one of the most popular days of FFA Week is Wednesday when students can wear their country attire to school.
“This is also one of most people’s favorite days of the week because we have ‘drive a tractor to school day,’ ” Ames said.
Students with tractors will parade into the parking lot together before the first bell rings.
“It gives everyone a chance to see where we live, what we have and what we do,” she continued.
On Thursday, elementary students are invited to the high school to experience ag-related activities, including an up-close look at pot belly pigs, llamas, baby chickens and other livestock.
Before kicking off the weekend in pajamas on Friday, the FFA pauses to show their teachers some much needed appreciation.
“At St. Joe, our teachers go above and beyond. We really want to show them how much we really do care,” Ames said.
“Throughout the week, every ag class writes letters for every staff member in our school. We explain what we appreciate them for, and what we love about them, things we think they are really good at,” Ames said.
That morning, we give the teachers their letters and serve them breakfast.”
Ames said that through the activities and opportunities FFA provides for students, they become leaders for their communities.
“At the national organization, they talk a lot about growing leaders,” she said. “We want to elevate who we are and what we want to do for the community.”
