Underneath the surface, there’s a lot that goes into making Xavier’s annual canned food drive as successful as it is. From NHS members volunteering in the early mornings, to staff preparation, and to generating new ways to get the school to participate, many speculate on how does Xavier raise so much money and what are the fundraising tactics behind it all?
Xavier’s Canned Food Drive has been happening for nearly 38 years. The drive is hosted by Xavier’s National Honor Society (NHS) members who dedicate their early mornings to collecting funds and cans from 7 a.m. until homeroom begins. Members are also required to donate 50 cans or $25.
The annual drive is focused on donating proceeds to St. Vincent de Paul, a non-profit organization in central Phoenix, with the main purpose of giving to those in need. It spans four weeks, starting on October 21 and ending on November 15.
During the food drive, each grade level has a week where it is asked to focus upon turning in cans. Seniors were week one, juniors were week two and so forth. The homeroom from that grade that turned in the most cans during its week would be treated to donuts.
This year however, the NHS board members have implemented new fundraising tactics to get the students more involved. The top homeroom still wins donuts, but the top senior student receives preferred graduation seating, the top junior wins second semester premium parking, top sophomore wins a $400 Gator Gear shopping certificate, and the top freshwoman wins a second semester $400 lunch pass.
The grand prize is given to the class that raises the most amount of money. That class gets a day off of school.
Jamie Itule, NHS moderator says, “We have incredible student leadership which is the backbone of our entire organization. The officers come with strong, bright, fresh ideas that motivated the students and helped us surpass our goal.”
Although the new prizes heated up the friendly competition between classes, the older tactics helped contribute to raising.
Xavier’s “Can Your Skirt” day is the fundraising tactic that raises the most amount of money and still does today. This Xavier tradition started in the late 80s, allowing for girls to “can” in their skirts for $5 or 10 cans to wear sweans (sweatpants or jeans).
Tax credits are a great way that students can collect large amounts of money to donate, with the help of their families. Tax credits are amounts that taxpayers can subtract from the income taxes they owe. $470 for single filers and $938 for joint, which are the max amounts someone can receive a credit for any amount donated, allowing for receiving every single dollar back up to the limit back in a tax return.
The “protein push” allowed for anyone to bring in eight cans of tuna fish or four jars of peanut butter. From there, they would be entered in a drawing for a gift card. The motivation behind the protein push and the raffles is to provide families with a well-balanced diet.
Lucy Lopez, St. Vincent De Paul District Seven president says, “The protein push is the most needed food right now for the residents at St. Vincent De Paul. You all [XCP community] are a great example of what it means to be of service to others at a young age.”
Alongside the protein push, there was a bake sale for the Gators on Monday, November 11. The NHS board, along with NHS members, donated and sold baked goods for $1, which helped raise $755.
Maryam Al Qaderi ’25, National Honors Society president, said, “Coming up with new fundraising tactics was a team effort. Each board member, Ms. Metzger, Mrs. Itule, and I worked on brainstorming new ideas to encourage participation and engagement while increasing fundraising.”
At the end of the four weeks, the sophomores won the day off of school. The winners of each grade level were Nora Smith ’28, Tessa Larkin ’27, Adriana Sarraf ’26 (who brought in the most cans of all students), and Holly Matchinsky ’25. The top staff contributors were Rhonda Golden who collected 10,000 cans, Laurie White who also collected 10,000 and Jennifer Weiland who collected 9,380 cans.
The grand total this year was 693,683 cans, the most amount ever collected in Xavier history. XCP raised more than $70,000 in monetary donations.
