Palos West Students Collect Over 3,700 Donations for Local Food Pantry

Each year during the lead up to the Superbowl, students at Palos School District 118’s West Elementary host a non-perishable food drive to benefit a local food pantry.

As part of the school’s annual “Souper Bowl of Caring,” students in each grade level compete to see who can collect the most donations. This year, Palos West’s fourth grade classes were the top donation champions winning a spring tailgate party.

In total, Palos West students collected 3,708 donations for the Palos Township Food Pantry program.

Palos West fourth grade teacher and student council sponsor Toni Hotzfield said that the annual event is a favorite of the student council as it gives them a chance to get involved in overseeing a school-wide outreach event.

“Our students enjoy going to the classrooms to count all the cans and prepare announcements to keep students and staff updated on the daily counts,” said Mrs. Hotzfield has been overseeing the annual collection event for over 10 years. She said students also love helping to load the food pantry truck.

She said that student energy levels increase each day as more food items are brought in to help the community.

“It is great to come together to help those in need and we could not do this without our amazing families,” she said.

Palos West Principal Jennifer Peloquin said that the community outreach event has been held the week of the Superbowl for over 20 years. She said students are excited about the competition but also motivated to help their community too.

“They learn that helping others is something we should all do often throughout our lifetime,” said Ms. Peloquin, adding, “We focus on many character traits throughout the school year, so I’m thankful to our staff, students, and community for the kindness and generosity that they have shown in our Souper Bowl of Caring tradition each year.”