For roughly 5o years, students, staff, and community members have been contributing to “White Gift”, a service project organized by the WHS Student Council and their advisors. Lead by Amy Faris and Tyler Williams, co-student council advisors, the project provides meals to over 200 families in need during the holiday season.
The White Gift delivers meal packages in mid-December, right before the students leave for winter break. Although the content in the kits can vary per year, the general theme is to provide a “holiday meal-esque” package. The packages often contain: a bag of potatoes, a ham or turkey, butter, milk, canned goods like corn and green beans, stuffing mix, cake or cornbread mix, and mac n’ cheese. They also aim to include pans and foil in their packages.
Throughout the process, Amy and Tyler coordinate with their community partners, such as Kroger and R+L, and collect addresses and information about families in need. The two mentioned that Kroger will notify them when holiday food items are on sale, in order to ensure they can serve as many families as possible. White Gift also provides meal packages to local homeless shelters.
The students are responsible for packing and delivering the kits. In addition to student council members, other students also join in on assembly and delivery day, with over 60 students helping pack, deliver, and clean up after the service event.
Each year, WHS hosts fundraisers to raise money for the meals that they provide. In addition to fundraising events, like homecoming, students also reach out to the community and speak with potential donors. According to Tyler and Amy, students gain not only empathy, but real life experience when speaking to local businesses in seek of donations. The two stressed the impactfulness of the program on both the students and members of the community, emphasizing how grateful the families are upon receiving their meal packages.
Amy and Tyler simply “want to continue to serve as many families as possible” and “honor the tradition of the project” moving forward. To donate or get involved with White Gift, contact WCS at (937) 382-1641.