Students are gearing up for two weeks of food donations through two holiday food drives; here’s your guide to both. First up is the Chazen vs. Wayland canned drive Dec. 6-10, which is then followed by the Parkway Holiday Cup Dec. 13-17.

The Parkway Holiday Cup is a newer food drive and spirit week competition between the four Parkway high schools, while Chazen vs. Wayland is a longstanding campus tradition between social studies teachers Jeffrey Chazen and Annie Wayland.

“Students can just bring their cans to any of their social studies teachers. If they don’t have a social studies class, they can donate to either Mr. Chazen, the winning team, or Ms. Wayland, the losing team,” Chazen said.

Both drives were originally scheduled for the same week as the Parkway Holiday Cup; however, Chazen and Wayland worked with Longhorn Council members and sponsor Susan Anderson to find a solution that they believed would most benefit each drive.

“We didn’t want either one of the drives to be less cared about because we really want to help these families who need this food. It’s all going to the same place so I think we’re really going to help a lot of families this way,” Student Body President and senior Caroline Bergh said. “We were the winners last year, [so] it is important that we defend our title as winners again.”

Though all donations will eventually go to the Parkway Pantry, the drives are separate because the history drive ties into the Modern U.S. History curriculum on the Great Depression. 

“The Great Depression curriculum usually falls right between Thanksgiving and Winter Break and it’s a time where we’re thinking about the extremity of what these people experience in terms of unemployment, food scarcity and more,” Wayland said. “It’s also a time where we want to teach students to ask how they can give back to the people in their own communities. Students are and always have been very generous and we hope to continue that this year.”

Students can bring canned items to the social studies department starting Monday Dec. 6, and all items for the Holiday Cup the following week.

“We’re all on the same team and [having both drives on] consecutive weeks really will raise awareness,” Wayland said. “If a student forgets to participate in one they can always participate in the other and all donations will help Parkway families.”