BROWNSTOWN
One group dressed as farmers, while another group wore beards and hats to represent gnomes, and another one was dressed as five of Snow White’s seven dwarves.
No matter what their theme was, they all had the same mission: Going door to door in Brownstown neighborhoods to collect canned goods.
In a two-hour span Tuesday night and adding to their collection the next day, 24 members of the Brownstown Central High School student council gathered nearly 900 items.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryOn Wednesday, those were delivered to Anchor House Family Assistance Center and Pantry in Seymour to be placed on the food pantry shelves for clients to take.
“They help out so many families in the communities, and it’s just great what we do for them. I’m so proud of it,” sophomore Morgan Branaman said after trick-or-treating for canned goods Tuesday night. “It made me feel better about myself because we are helping the not-so-fortunate.”
The event has become a tradition for the student council.
Seniors Chloe Carlin and Olivia Hackman were a part of the project last year, and they led the organization of it this year.
“More people were informed,” Hackman said. “We brought it up more. People knew more about it, and we got way more cans this year, I believe.”
They were happy to see residents have boxes or bags of canned goods sitting on their porches. One woman even invited students into her home to pick out whatever cans they wanted.
“I think they would like to help Anchor House because it helps people in need during the holidays, and they need support,” Hackman said. “They always want to help donate toward the holidays.”
Carlin realizes Anchor House needs help year-round, not just around the holidays.
“I think a lot of people kind of forget that Anchor House needs the support from the community,” she said. “This is just a way for us to start that, and then maybe if they realize that they did this once, they could do it again and that it’s easy to do.”
Being a part of the project again this year, sophomore Chloe Covert said it helps her and the other student council members realize how blessed they are.
“It just felt really good both years to help the people in the community,” she said. “You don’t realize how many people are struggling. I think it’s really nice because we’re opening everyone’s eyes to see, and it can make a farther impact on our community later.”
This also was the second year for sophomore Hannah Hackman to be involved in the trick-or-treating.
“Just getting to see everybody’s environments and how they like to support us and are willing to help out, I’m grateful for the opportunity to be able to do it,” she said.
Student council advisers Melanie Preston and Paula Workman are proud of the students’ efforts.
“Our members always seem most enthusiastic about community service projects, which makes my heart happy,” Preston said. “I hope they met new people in our community, I hope they experienced the joy from serving others and I hope they understand how many people’s lives they changed through one small act of kindness.”
Although Anchor House is not in Brownstown, Preston said it still provides for many people in the community.
“It’s so important that we help make our community a better place to live for our students and our neighbors,” she said.
Workman is a first-year student council adviser and said she liked being a part of the project.
“I just like that the kids are willing to give up a couple hours of their time and come into our community and try to help those that just need a little help,” she said. “Especially we’re getting close to the holiday season, and so people are going to benefit from this.”