Growing a School Food Drive With the Other People Mindset

This blog was written by Jonathan Everett, a 5th grade teacher now in his 19th year in the classroom. With a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction, Jonathan wears many hats at Holly Ridge — P2 School Leader, SEL SIP Committee Chair, and PTA representative. Holly Ridge Elementary, part of Wake County and now in its seventh year as a P2 school, earned Green Shield Status in 2025–2026, a milestone that reflects just how deeply the Other People Mindset has taken root in the Holly Ridge community.

Ten years ago, I started working at Holly Ridge and arrived at a school that already had a yearly food drive in place. It pulled in somewhere between 600 and 700 items — a great idea, but not exactly great results. For a few years, things stayed about the same. Then I was lucky enough to be put in charge of the Social and Emotional Learning SIP committee, which allowed me to help bring P2 to our school and use it as a driving force to push the annual drive to new levels. 

Using P2 — especially the idea of the Other People Mindset — has turned this into one of the most fun things our school does all year. It’s filled with hundreds of participants, community involvement, videos, dances, silly rewards, and a massive increase in the amount of food donated each year. By reinforcing the idea that one of the best ways to grow is to give back to your community, we’ve partnered with the Holly Springs Food Cupboard for the last seven years to create some truly amazing events. 

Along the way, this has become something much bigger than a school fundraiser. It’s a full community effort. Here are just some of the people who make it happen: 

Students, students, and more students:

Thousands of students have donated over the years — but that’s just the beginning. They count items, box them up, help organize rewards, decorate for celebrations, and promote the drive both in school and in their neighborhoods. Watching this grow through the energy and ownership of so many kids has been incredibly cool. 

Staff members:

Staff help promote the event to families, encourage participation, and jump in wherever needed. They film videos, help count donations, participate in community parades where we collect food in neighborhoods, and willingly sign up for the silly rewards (pie in the face, silly string, dances — you name it). 

Our PTA:

Always massively supportive and fully involved. From promotion to being some of the leading donors, they are a vital part of everything we do. Each Friday during the drive, they help run carpool, collect food directly from vehicles, and serve as our biggest cheerleaders. 

Admin:

Over the years, we’ve asked for some pretty wacky things — and admin always has our back. They let us take over morning announcements, use the front lobby as our operations hub, and support whatever creative idea helps get kids excited and involved. 

The Core Crew:

There have been five main guys who help run these events, and they will truly do whatever it takes to boost donations while modeling the Other People Mindset. That has included: 

• Shaving their heads in front of the school
• Growing, designing, and shaving wild beards 
• Wearing costumes to match those beards 
• Creating yearly dance videos based on student suggestions 
• Building a pallet shelter and sleeping outside the school 
• Racing through the building in inflatable costumes 
• Letting students dump a variety of messy items all over them 
• Hauling supplies onto the roof and sleeping there overnight 
• Driving through neighborhoods, collecting donations, and letting kids sign their vehicles
• Packing and delivering countless boxes to the Food Cupboard 
• Filling an activity bus with donations, driving through neighborhoods collecting more, and sleeping in it for the night (this year!) 

What started as a small annual drive has grown into a twice-a-year event that now collects more than 4,000 items each time. That kind of growth only happens because P2 continually nudges us to think about others — and because our students get to see that mindset in action all around them. 

It’s something the whole school looks forward to, and there may not be a better example of P2 strengths coming to life than what happens during these drives. 

Now… who has an idea for next year?