North ITS Troupe Supports Kids in Need

          This October, Parkway North ITS Troupe 4551 is sponsoring their annual canned food drive for Tots-Eat. Tots-Eat is a thespian society food drive that high school drama departments take part in all over the U.S.
           “[Helping with the food drive] is a good experience in helping people in need, because in the end we all need to help each other out to succeed in life,” said junior Adam Laytham.
          In 2010 the Educational Theatre Association was able to collect over 350,000 pounds of canned food with the help of over 320 Thespian troupes around the U.S. All of the food collected at PNH will be donated to Circle of Concern, a local food pantry.
           “A lot of people have been able to come out of poverty and by not helping out we could possibly be wasting potential in the children that are going hungry,” said Laytham.
          Tots-Eat focuses on making sure kids get the food they need to survive, since young children are the normally the first to suffer from malnutrition. According to Share Our Strength one in five children are at risk of hunger and 18.6 million children receive food stamp benefits in America. Also, according to Share Our Strength 15.7 million children in America live in poverty. Tots-Eat is determined to reduce these statistics and help more children receive the food that they need to survive.
           “A lot of people are in need of food and we have a responsibility as citizens to help them out,” said freshman Nick Jesperson.
          nHunger not only affects a child physically but socially as well. Children who aren’t getting enough food in their bodies are less likely to do well in school because of the constant hunger that bothers them every day. By donating to the Tots-Eat drive at school, students are helping kids just like themselves and themselves as well.
          “Just like any school sponsored event, helping out the food drive helps promote school spirit and unity as well as awareness for those suffering from hunger,” said Laytham.
          Also, ac labs that participate can earn raffle tickets for a pizza party. November 1 is the last day ac labs can submit donations for raffle tickets. Students can donate canned food through their academic labs or at every home football game throughout the month of October.

By Lauren Hasse