A shopping spree for fellow students who are less fortunate

A high school in Oregon has a great way to help during the holidays. They conduct a yearly shopping spree to help those less fortunate in their school.

Students a Bend High in Oregon shop for a project called Thankful Families. Funds are raised by the student council, and are spent by buying Thanksgiving groceries for poor families in their area.

The Bulletin's Shelia Miller notes that Eight families each received $110 worth of food.

Allison Tash, 17, has been participating in the Thankful Families project for three years.

“It’s just great to know you’re helping your community, kids at Bend High,” said Tash, who partnered with Allison Lake, 15.

Erickson’s Thriftway in Bend provides free turkeys for the families. But the rest is up to the students. On Friday, students paired up, then moved through the store filling a grocery cart. Most pairs had a calculator, which they used to make sure they weren’t spending too much on any one item.

The challenge for the kids was to provide as much food as possible, not only for Thanksgiving dinner but also for the week. The pair who got closest to $110 without going over budget will be treated to lunch with activities coordinator Jan McKnight.

Bend-La Pine Schools has no classes next week, and McKnight noted most of the Bend High students who will benefit from the program receive free or reduced lunch.

The families who receive the food are anonymous. McKnight delivers the food; the high school students doing the shopping just know how many people are in the family, different foods the family would like to have, and whether they have any food allergies.