MAKING A DIFFERENCE — The Indian Creek Middle School Seventh- and Eighth-Grade Student Council helped replenish the building’s food pantry following a collection on Dec. 8-12. Among those helping stock shelves are seventh-grade members Natalie Griffith, Stella McFarland and Bryn Hammack. -- Contributed

MINGO JUNCTION –Indian Creek Middle School helped its own by collecting for the school food pantry, and organizers said they have surpassed their goal.

Members of the Seventh- and Eighth-Grade Student Council coordinated the ICMS Holiday Food Drive under the auspices of adviser Staci Copeland and said they exceeded expectations by gathering more than 1,700 items. Eighth-Grade Student Council Treasurer Maryn Barcalow said the event was held the week of Dec. 8 and the student organization sought non-perishable goods that their peers could take home to quell food insecurity over the holiday break and beyond.

“Our goal is to collect macaroni and cheese, Ramen, peanut butter and jelly, fruit cups and canned pasta. All these items can be taken home by students in our building,” Barcalow added. “We started this food drive last year and decided to do it again because it helped many students.”

An incentive was put into place and the homeroom which gained the most items earned a pizza party prior to the holiday break, with teacher David Guess’s class holding the top spot with 564 items. Among the eighth-grade student council members involved in the project are Barcalow, Annabelle Petrella, Lane Speece and Carter Koos, along with seventh-grade members Bryn Hammack, Stella McFarland, Kaden Haddox, Abram Koos and Natalie Griffith.

“The seventh grade has collected and counted items every morning while eighth grade has organized a system for students to access the food pantry,” Barcalow continued. “Our goal was to collect 1,000 items, and we exceeded our goal and collected 1,729 items for our food drive. That’s about 432 cans per day.”

Any ICMS student can go to Room T-2 from 7:15 a.m. to 8 a.m. or 2 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. to access the food pantry. Meanwhile, the student council is looking to coordinate an event to collect personal hygiene items for students and hope to collect soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothbrushes and toothpaste.