Last week, Interact Club and Project Paterson collaborated and completed their Thanksgiving Food Drive. In just one week, they were able to collect a large amount of food such as canned fruits and veggies, mac and cheese, cereal, and more. These items filled a total of 62 bags, helping support students and their families at the Dr. Hani Awadallah School in Paterson.

Senior Kanishka Prasanna, an Interact Senior Officer, explained the process of the drive.  

“We planned to collect non-perishable food items from donations … cans, cereal boxes, anything that isn’t fresh food. Then we collect them and send them off to Project Paterson who would ship them off to schools,” she said. 

Project Paterson Advisor Kaitlyn Mahaffey explained that she received the call for the drive at the last minute.

She said, “I randomly got an email from a lady who is a school psychologist in Paterson.” She was wondering if Project Paterson could help any of the struggling families during the holiday season.

Mahaffey agreed and decided to team up with Interact to make it happen. “It was one week only, there were no extensions. It was about how many supplies we were able to collect in one week,” she added. 

Mahaffey also discussed why the drive was so important. She said, “ I like to think I am an advocate for community service, and my philosophy has always been that if you have the opportunity to give back, you should give back, and that there was clearly a need for supplies which Project Paterson could fulfill.” She also stated that, “There was a chance that it wouldn’t be successful, but every little bit helps so why not.”