For the third consecutive year, the McQuaid Jesuit community collected food for the Thanksgiving Food Drive benefiting St. Joseph’s House of Hospitality.

Three years ago, the idea of having a Thanksgiving Food Drive came up in a Campus Ministry meeting.  Since then, it has developed into a competition between classes.  In an effort to make it feel more competitive, the donations were moved to class moderators’ homerooms

This year’s drive raised about 1,500 cans.  The winner in the middle school was the 7th grade, and the winner in the high school was the 10th grade.  Science teacher Mrs. Lisa Soprano was a big factor in the 7th grade’s victory, encouraging them to donate “for the right reasons,” Mr. Patrick Flaherty said.

Mr. Flaherty was happy about the number of cans donated.  However, he has higher ambitions. “We would like to do better next year, maybe 2,000, or even 3,000,” Mr. Flaherty said.

“I think we could have done a better job of advertising,” Mr. Flaherty said.

In past years, they were in the Chapel hallway for the high school and faculty and the middle school atrium for the middle school.  Since its inception, the incentive of a dress down has also been added for the winning class or the faculty.

St. Joseph’s House of Hospitality is a shelter for men in Rochester.  It was founded in 1935 by Dorothy Day, a well known social activist and key figure in the Catholic Worker Movement.

St. Joseph’s provides shelter, clothing, food, and spiritually-centered care to those in need.  They operate an emergency overnight shelter from October to April for men who have nowhere else to go during the cold months of fall and winter.  Meals are provided daily to anyone in need.  In some cases, that is their only meal of the day.

“A man came up for seconds, and I asked him if he had enjoyed his meal, which was a bowl of stew.  He told me that he had enjoyed it because it was the only food he had had all day…it was 6 p.m.,” Mr. Nathan Drahms said, recalling an experience he had while volunteering at St. Joseph’s.

McQuaid and St. Joseph’s have a good relationship, according to Mr. Drahms.  He added that there is an “obvious connection” because of proximity, and McQuaid being an all-male school and St. Joseph’s being a shelter for men.  St. Joseph’s is also the destination of the middle school’s annual Walk for Justice.

Campus Ministry hopes to continue the Thanksgiving Food Drive and make it a tradition. Their goal is to increase participation in coming years. If that goal is accomplished, they would consider other recipients of food, as well as St. Joseph’s.