11th Annual District 308 Food Drive Begins This Week

OSWEGO, IL — Oswego Community Unit School District 308's 11th annual food drive will be underway beginning Tuesday.

Benefitting the Kendall County Community Food Pantry, the drive will run through 4 p.m. Oct. 23. Online donations began Monday.

For the last decade, the district's schools have challenged themselves to collect more donations than the previous year. Buildings also compete to see who has the highest growth percentage from the prior year and who collects the largest amount of donations per student. This year won't be any different.

Winners will then be announced during halftime of the 20th annual Crosstown Challenge Football Game between Oswego and Oswego East high schools. The game will be hosted Oct. 25 at Oswego East High School.

Last year, District 308 schools collected 266,839 total items and equivalent items for the pantry, Patch reported. The pantry serves about 450 families each week — up from 180 two years ago — out of its Yorkville distribution center. The panty's Oswego satellite location serves about 100 families per month, while its Plano site helps about 80 families monthly.

The food pantry has a bulk-buying power that gives it the ability to purchase $8 of groceries for every $1 donated. As a result, to come up with the district's total donation amount, staff combine the number of physical items received with the monetary equivalent of "items" — each dollar donated multiplied by eight.

Since the inaugural drive in 2014, the district has donated more than 1.8 million items to the pantry. Superintendent Andalib Khelghati expects that number to surpass 2 million with this year's efforts.

"What an incredible way to help the pantry with its mission and greatly impact our community," he said in a statement.

Physical items needed include personal care items and pet food, which cannot be purchased by the pantry but are needed by clients, according to district officials. Nonperishable food donations are welcome, but district staff said monetary donations — which can be made via PayPal or a check to the pantry — are highly encouraged since cash donations go further than physical items.

Donations can be brought to each District 308 school building during the drive.

"It's an opportunity to make the community aware of what we do and who we help," pantry Executive Director Alex Hurd said, per a District 308 news release. "The person you are helping may be sitting next to you in your classroom and you wouldn't know it."