Community

CCHS Begins Annual Food Drive

WHEELING -- The grocery bags are now out on front porches and ready to be filled with food items courtesy of students and staff at Wheeling Central Catholic High School.

Teams of students from the school - led by teachers and others from the Central community - could be seen canvassing Wheeling's neighborhoods on Wednesday with armloads of grocery bags Wednesday morning. Their intent was to place one the doorstep of each home.

A note on the bag asks the homeowner to fill it with non-perishable food items and set them back on their porch Saturday, when Central's community will return to retrieve them.

From there, the food collected will be turned over to the Catholic Charities Neighborhood Center in downtown Wheeling for distribution, according to school officials.

This marks the 53rd year Central has conducted its annual holiday food drive throughout Wheeling, and the effort is thought to be the largest in West Virginia, according to Principal Rebecca Sancomb.

She said the school typically collects about 20,000 food items. Among them are canned goods, canned fruits, vegetables, cereals, pastas and sauces.

"It's all of the things people need most during the winter months," Sancomb added.

Prior to starting out on Wednesday, the students gathered at the school for a breakfast that was followed by a prayer service. They then loaded onto buses that took them into designated neighborhoods in Wheeling.

A large group of students disembarked on Washington Avenue near the entrance to Wheeling University, where they set out as teams canvassing different streets. Teacher Amy Phillips gave directions and shouted out orders. She reminded them to "represent Central well," and exhibit its mission of social responsibility.

"We have been doing this for over 50 years, and it is a tradition," Phillips said. "We value the experience of being able to help those in the Wheeling community."

The food collection involves the entire student body and most staff at Central. Unless they have a prior commitment, all will be involved with the pickup on Saturday. The students and their parents with larger SUVs and trucks will return and collect what people leave on their porches, according to Sancomb.

School officials call the effort "organized chaos."

"It is a blessing to the community," Sancomb said. "We would like to thank the community. We couldn't do it each year without the support of the Wheeling community."