Lapeer Area View

Giving spirit of Thanksgiving

Lapeer High School students to provide 30 meals to families



All of the food packaging is done by Student Council members, like officers and seniors Allyssia Gomez and Sydney Bridges. Photo by Nicholas Pugliese

All of the food packaging is done by Student Council members, like officers and seniors Allyssia Gomez and Sydney Bridges. Photo by Nicholas Pugliese

LAPEER — The spirit of Thanksgiving is alive and well with students at Lapeer High School.

Student Council members, under the leadership of teacher-advisors Char Cornell, Lorie Davis and Kim Kent, are set to provide 30 pre-packaged Thanksgiving meals, containing everything from a frozen turkey to all the fixings and a pumpkin pie, to fellow classmates whose families are in need.

The project is completely anonymous and connections are made through the school’s counseling office. Cornell said when the project first began, she and students would head to Kroger in Lapeer and fill up ten shopping carts, “but I got smarter and Kroger got smarter,” she said. Now, everything’s arranged prior to collection of food items, with Kroger offering a significant price reduction, and the purchases are made through funds generated by Homecoming ticket sales. “(Kroger) has been very generous to us,” said Cornell.

The boxes contain “everything you’d need,” said Cornell, including potatoes, stuffing, yams, green beans and of course, a large turkey for the student’s entire family. Every year, the Student Council has been able to increase the number of dinners they’re able to provide, starting with 20 the first year.

Cornell said that while some Student Councils are more passive, Lapeer’s is much more active. “We’re more of a leadership group and giving group,” she said. “We make a lot of money with homecoming and it all goes back to the students.”

After the food purchases are made, the Student Council gets to work sorting everything. Throughout the week, the school’s counselors have been visiting to retrieve the packaged dinners for delivery to the students in need.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.