Working at a grocery store, St. Xavier High School senior, Alex Van Pee ’21 has noticed that grocery prices are rising, “Even the people who didn’t need help before are starting to need help from pantries and shelters. It really can happen to anybody.”

Thursday, June 12th, cars began lining up 90 minutes early to receive fresh produce boxes and milk, which are rare commodities in food pantries and shelters. In all, 1,408 boxes of produce and 2,700 gallons of milk, provided by Borden were distributed. The National Guard provided extra power supply to keep the milk refrigerated during the event. Each box of produce weighed 22 pounds and includes potatoes, onion, celery, carrots, cabbage and more.

Over 30 St. Xavier students/alumni/staff helped move all these boxes to the parking lot into two distribution sites and place the items into the trunks as recipients drove-thru the lines for no-contact pick-up.

St. Xavier High School senior, Jeffrey Hecht ’21 is happy to have the chance to serve the community, “Many of our service opportunities were canceled through the summer due to COVID-19 but today we have partnered with the Freestore Foodbank, Su Casa, the USDA and Catholic Charities to give fresh food to families in need.” Service is a cornerstone of the education at St. Xavier High School. About 90% of students voluntarily engage in service as a component of their education and as they strive to be in touch with the needs in the community and develop into Men for Others.