Minnetonka High School's Student Government and Hope House Service Club joined together in December to coordinate a drive-up donation event. Using the tagline "Fill the Truck!," students looked to gather both food donations for the ICA Food Shelf and winter gear donations for Hope House, an emergency crisis shelter for teens in the southwest suburbs.
The one-day event, which lasted from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., soon surpassed its goal! Instead of filling one truck with donations, students organizing the drive collected three truckloads of food, in addition to a warehouse of winter gear. MHS senior and Student Government President Bryn Senske, a student leader for the event, entered the day hoping to fill half a truck.
"I definitely did not expect the outpouring of support from the whole community," said Senske. "Starting at 8 o'clock, the cars [for the drive-by donation] were almost nonstop!"
With an unexpected surplus of donations, students and Minnetonka Schools staff worked together to create a plan to gather and distribute the food and winter clothes. "At first we were scrambling to figure out what to do with the sheer volume of food and clothing, but with help from the custodial staff and Sarah Johnson in the activities office we were able to figure it out," said Senske. "It was such a good feeling to have my expectations exceeded, especially after the year we've been having." The warehouse to store winter gear donations was provided by A Better Society, a non-profit organization in Chanhassen.
"The results of the December drive collection were OVERWHELMING in every aspect," shared Open Hands Foundation Executive Director Rod Provart. Open Hands is the organization that oversees Hope House. "The generosity and abundance of the donations as well as the leadership and creativity of the students far exceeded expectations." The winter gear gathered fulfilled the needs for Hope House, and so the excess donations were given to the PROP Shop in Eden Prairie and His House foundation in Excelsior.
"The best part of the connection [between Open Hands and Minnetonka High School] is experiencing the joy of and passion for service that [students] share with everything they do," said Provart. "Their energy is inspiring, and their hearts to serve teens in need are humbling."
"I'm so proud of the way that our community came together," said Senske. "To know that I had a role in that was a great feeling."
When asked what her biggest takeaway from the project was, Senske shared: "I learned to never underestimate the community!"
