On Tuesday, OVS students completed their first Food Share visit of the school year, with a group of ninth graders setting a new OVS record for packing food for the Oxnard nonprofit.
Led by Interim Head of School Craig Floyd, the eight students boxed 7,776 pounds of produce to be provided at local distribution events. The previous packing record for OVS was 6,144 pounds.
“I felt like we were doing a good thing and helping people out,” said freshman Clara Sachs, one of the students on the trip. “It was fast-paced but a lot of fun. It felt good to know that we were helping families.”
Tuesday’s effort is part of a long-standing OVS service commitment to Food Share, which provides hunger relief to hundreds of thousands of residents each year.
OVS ensures that every new Upper Campus student has an opportunity to volunteer at Food Share. In addition, OVS sports teams each season fill a critical need by helping distribute emergency food boxes at Oxnard’s College Park.
At Tuesday’s event, the students loaded squash, celery, peaches, and other produce. They worked for about two hours, feeding many families on their way to setting the new new record.
“Six hundred and eighty families are going to get food because of you guys,” Volunteer Operations Coordinator Charlie Bertok told the OVS group. “Every bit makes a difference, and you made a difference today.”
OVS College Counselor Fred Alvarez is thrilled that he was able to contribute and help these struggling families by having the freshman class volunteer.
“This is one of the best service projects we do, and I was super proud of those ninth graders on Tuesday,” he said. “We put in a lot of work, but we all felt pretty good about ourselves afterward.”