NEW CONCORD -- They asked for donations, they pulled from their pantries, they worked a shift at a restaurant and, in the end, students of John Glenn High School once again collected thousands of food items to feed the hungry at Christmas time.
In what has become the largest canned food drive in the nation, John Glenn students collected 56,577 items.
They reached that number in the midst of a stubborn, drawn-out recession that has proven to be the worst in decades.
During the nadir of the recession last year, students still were able to collect 39,949 items. The record, set in 2006 before the onset of hard times, is 72,230 items.
The food collected this year was displayed and then loaded up on Friday morning for distribution to the Zanesville and Cambridge Corps of The Salvation Army.
Capt. Ralph Campbell of the Zanesville Corps said food was distributed last year to about 1,200 families. This year is on course for a similar number.
"It's not the number of cans collected," Campbell said. "It's the number of hearts behind the cans."
With their food drive, John Glenn students make a tremendous contribution to the charitable work of The Salvation Army, Capt. Ray Harrison said.
"Without you, we couldn't do half of what we do," said Harrison, of the Cambridge Corps.
"Thank-yous can be said in many different ways," Harrison said. "But if it's not from the heart, they don't mean a thing."
(jlowe@daily-jeff.com)
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