Parkway North ITS Troupe Sponsors “Tots Eat”

Every October, the Parkway North ITS Troupe sponsors a canned food drive for people in the St. Louis area called Tots Eat. In the St. Louis community, there are many people who are in a secure financial position with disposable income and steady food and utilities, but others aren’t so lucky. According to the US census, 9.6% of the American population is below the poverty line. These people may have to choose between feeding their family and getting basic utilities like heating and gas. Tots Eat donates canned food to local food pantries so families won’t have to make that choice.

“[Tots Eat is important because] there’s a growing number of people in our community needing to choose between food and utilities,” said drama teacher Chad Little. “We want to build stronger community members, which we try to do at this school.”

Every academic lab at North has a box for canned food donations. Students are highly encouraged to bring in canned vegetables, soups, and fruit to help reach the theatre’s goal of 3000 pounds of food. Every can helps a family in need.

“If every student brought one can it, we would have 1500 pounds,” said Little.

Another way the ITS Troupe is collecting cans is door-to-door collection every weekend in the neighborhoods surrounding North. The final door-to-door collection will be on Halloween Night. ITS members and other participants in the Theatre department dress up in Halloween costumes and go “trick or treating” for canned goods instead of candy.

“We’re gonna have groups going out every weekend,” said junior Nicole Hunt, who is involved in the theatre department. “We’ll be leaving signs on [people’s] doors and collecting [the cans every] Sunday.”

Hunger is a very big issue in St. Louis today, and Tots Eat is a way to take a step towards eliminating this issue in our community.

“It’s a worthy cause. We don’t often do charitable events at PNH, so it’s a good chance to work together as a school,” said Hunt.

by Molly Thal