A Student-Led Food Drive at Blanche Sims Elementary

This article was written by Erica Lentz, Building Secretary at Blanche Sims Elementary School in the Lake Orion Community Schools District in Michigan. Erica has been the building secretary for four years and has worked at Blanche Sims in different capacities for nearly ten years. Blanche Sims is a Title 1 school, and its P2 Patrol student leadership team is led by teachers Jackie Stuart and Jenni Heck.

Students at Blanche Sims Elementary School work on The Positivity Project (P2) character strengths every day. In December 2025, our P2 Patrol put several of those strengths to work in a two-week food drive for families in need during the holiday season. The P2 Patrol is a student leadership team led by teachers Jackie Stuart and Jenni Heck.

Why the P2 Patrol Chose a Food Drive

Blanche Sims is a Title 1 school, which means a share of our families qualify for federal support based on income. The P2 Patrol saw the importance of helping a large portion of our school population during a difficult time of year.

The students chose this cause themselves, and they knew the families it would reach were in their own building. That is a different thing than collecting for a place you have only heard about. Some of the students packing boxes were packing for people they see in the hallway every day, making it extra meaningful.

Signs, Announcements, and a Wagon

Throughout the two-week drive, the P2 Patrol leaders demonstrated teamwork, love, kindness, and a strong sense of purpose. Students showed leadership by getting on our morning announcements to talk about the food drive and by making signs to hang throughout the building. They also shared information about the project with their individual classrooms.

Getting on the morning announcements isn’t always the easiest thing to do for an elementary student. It means being brave, speaking to the whole school, and asking them to do something.

Outside of individual bravery, students showed teamwork by pairing up and going to classrooms with a wagon to pick up the canned goods, deliver them to the home base on our stage, and organize and pack them for pickup. That route ran through the building for the full two weeks, with pairs of students handling collection classroom by classroom.

How the School Responded

Students generously donated canned goods, macaroni and cheese, breakfast items, dry goods, and other essential food items. The broader student body responded very positively to the initiative. We had one of our most successful food drives to date and were able to help a large number of families right in our community. Our students really respond to projects like this one that are based on serving others.

Much of the food drive’s success came from the fact that it was truly student-led. The students requesting donations were the same students who showed up at the classroom door with the wagon. A drive that runs two weeks also needs someone reminding people it is still going, which is what the signs and the announcements, all created by students, were for.

From Collections to the Lions Club

Once the collection ended, the P2 Patrol leaders carefully sorted and packed all donations. That work took as much time as gathering the food, and every item that came in on a wagon had to be grouped and boxed by the same students who picked it up.

The team then partnered with the Lake Orion Lions Club to distribute the collected items to local families in need. The students were able to see what another service organization was like and how they might want to continue their service in the future. Learning about this group of adults who volunteer year-round gave students a picture of what service can look like as they get older.

What Students Took From The Experience

Students were able to see firsthand the benefit of helping others through service. They planned the drive, promoted it, collected it, and sorted it, which meant the result belonged to them.

The character strengths our students practice every day were the ones this drive actually required. For example, moving a wagon through the building took teamwork, and choosing this project in the first place took kindness. It was also their first look at what happens to donations once they leave the building and reach families in need. Some of these students are already thinking about where they want to serve next, and the school is excited to help them in any way.