Story by Ainsley Hall, The Journal
MARTINSBURG — Martinsburg North Middle School’s Sources of Strength group organized a food drive last week, where students and members of the community were encouraged to bring non-perishable items to give to people in need.
Sources of Strength is a program that is designed to promote mental health and prevent suicide. Members are selected by teachers, and the students work together to become peer mentors. As leaders, they are trained to notice other students who might be struggling and reach out to help.
School counselor Brianna Sigler, leader of Sources of Strength at North Middle, wanted to find a way for her students to give back to the community. She decided a Thanksgiving food drive would be a great way to do that.
“Based on where we are in the community, some of these kids are not the most well off,” Sigler said. “I wanted to show them that even if you’re down, you can still help people around you. It helps build a sense of community, which is very important.”
Throughout November, the students worked together to promote the drive and encourage people to get involved. Students created flyers to hand out to their peers. They reached out to parents, local churches and other people in the community to collect as much as they could. They collected 300 items, which they donated to the Martinsburg Initiative to distribute to families in need.
One thing that Sigler wanted to teach the students was that not every good deed is rewarded. Many other food drives encourage students to participate by making it a competition with a grand prize for the class that gathers the most. Sigler doesn’t think that’s wrong, but she also wanted to show her students that getting a reward wasn’t their focus.
“I wanted them to learn that not every generosity is rewarded,” Sigler said. “It’s about doing something out of the kindness of their heart, not to get something in return. When they are walking into a grocery store and see someone in a wheelchair who needs help opening the door, you help them, but you don’t expect anything in return. We’re all human, and we all need help sometimes.”
The food drive also helped bring the school community together. Sigler shared that building a family within the school is important to make students and families feel connected. Some people in the community struggle with asking for help, but they want to show that the school supports them. Sigler was thankful to see all the students join the drive and get involved.