Altara Students Double Food Drive Goal
Jun 13, 2016 08:30AM ● By Julie Slama
Altara Principal Nicole Svee Magann lived up to her promise of dying her hair pink when students doubled their canned food drive goal. She passed out Creamies to students and surprised them with her new hairdo. Photo courtesy of Nicole Svee Magann
By Julie Slama / [email protected]
Altara Elementary students didn’t stop when they reached their goal of 1,200 cans to donate to the Utah Food Bank. The 560 students doubled their goal in about one week’s time.
“The students were very excited to bring in can food and learned from student council why the Utah Food Bank needs donations all year, not just around the holidays,” Altara student council adviser Mary Jo Webber said.
Students learned that one in every five kids are uncertain where their next meal is coming from and one in six Utahns are at risk of missing at least one meal each day. These and other reminders to bring in donations were on the daily announcements made by the nine-member student council. There were also reminders in the school newsletter, posters around school and on Altara TV.
PTA President Alisha Harrison helped distribute flyers that were sent home with students and coordinated the school’s efforts with the Utah Food Bank.
To give students an additional incentive, Principal Nicole Svee Magann told students that if they met their goal, she would pass out Creamies to each student. If they doubled their goal, she promised she would dye her hair.
“I had long, blond hair and my hair doesn’t hold color usually, so I thought this would be over fairly quickly,” she said. “When they met the goal, I also had seven inches cut off so it really surprised them when I walked in the door with a pink bob. And it has surprised me that now, about a month later, I still look as if I’m strawberry blonde.”
The food drive, which was held the week of April 7, was about 1,000 items short of the doubled goal on Thursday. By Friday morning, students brought in cases of food, Svee Magann said. Even more came in the first few days following spring break.
“We had six bins set out, one for each grade, and student council would count the cans each day. But when all the food came in at the end, we had to have four extra barrels and the food in the barrels was overflowing. It was great to see,” Webber said.
