D308 Schools Make Largest Donation To Kendall County Food Pantry After Crosstown Drive

OSWEGO, IL — Oswego Community Unit School District 308 staff made its largest-ever donation to the Kendall County Community Food Pantry as a result of its 10th annual food drive.

Schools across the district came together this fall to collect 266,839 total items and equivalent items for the pantry that serves more than 2,000 families each week at its three locations (two satellite locations in Oswego and Plano and a main food distribution center in Yorkville), officials said.

The food pantry has a bulk-buying power that gives it the ability to purchase $8 of groceries for every $1 donated. As a result, to come up with the district's total donation amount, staff combined the number of physical items received with the monetary equivalent of "items" — each dollar donated multiplied by eight.

Since the inaugural drive in 2014, the district has donated more than 1.8 million items — monetary and physical — to the Kendall County pantry, which operates out of three locations: its food distribution center at 208 Beaver St. in Yorkville, its Plano satellite location at 200 N. Center St., and its Oswego satellite location at 61 Franklin St.

"The food drive is used throughout the district as an opportunity for students to learn about hunger and food insecurities, and how important it is to be helpful to others in a time of need in a fun and competitive way between schools," Theresa Komitas, executive director of communications and public relations, wrote in a news release.

To fuel competition, District 308 officials also award one school in each grade level — elementary, junior high and high school. This year, the schools that collected the most items to claim the grand championship trophy were Southbury Elementary School, Traughber Junior High School and Oswego East High School.

The district also recognized the schools that "went above and beyond and out-performed their previous year's collection totals": Long Beach Elementary School, Southbury Elementary, School Traughber Junior High School and Bednarcik Junior High School.

"We are so proud of all of our students, parents, and community members who contributed to make this Food Drive such a huge success for the Kendall County Community Food Pantry and those in our area who find themselves in need," Komitas wrote.