South King Fire and Rescue urges teenagers to give a little and enjoy some friendly competition this holiday season in exchange for school prizes.
The fire district will begin its annual Community Food and Toy Drive on Nov. 17. The drive will run through Dec. 19. Along with soliciting donations from residents, the agency — for the first time — is sponsoring a friendly competition.
The competition begins the week following Thanksgiving at the area’s four high schools.
The winner of the competition will receive $500 toward a school dance, an engraved trophy and autographed Seahawks memorabilia. Federal Way High School has traditionally given to SKFR’s food and toy drive annually. This year, Thomas Jefferson, Decatur and possibly Todd Beamer high schools will join in to create some friendly competition.
Each school will be responsible for how it collects food donations. With the exception of ramen noodle packages, each food item collected will garner one point. SKFR wants to encourage the students to donate more than just ramen noodles, SKFR Capt. Kevin Crossen said. Toys will be taken, but will not earn points for schools. By Dec. 18, the school with the most points wins the prizes.
School dances are generally funded through a school’s Associated Student Body or an individual club or class, said Deb Stenberg, Federal Way School District community relations manager. The average dance, with the exception of prom, costs about $1,400, Stenberg said. The money is spent on a disc jockey, security and custodians, among other things.
At Decatur High School, five dances take place yearly. The leadership class is responsible for three of them.
An impressive disc jockey package, complete with strobe lights, can cost $500 to $900, Decatur leadership teacher Krys Ellis. With the prize money, the school could buy more than its standard package, which features the jockey and minimal lighting. Decatur leadership student Jinnah Park said the students could use the money to buy decorations, sparing the teenagers the effort they now put into making them by hand.
It is Crossen’s hope that the schools’ donations will allow SKFR to continue its food and toy drive tradition of feeding needy Federal Way families a Christmas dinner — plus providing a week’s worth of food and two holiday presents per child. Any leftover food will go to the food bank, he said.
“I hope we blow away the food bank with this,” Crossen said.
The fire district hopes to make the drive an annual event. Each year, the winning school will have its name and year of accomplishment engraved on the prize trophy, which will remain on display at that school throughout the year, Crossen said.
Outside the school setting, the fire district will collect non-perishable food and new unwrapped toys, not including stuffed animals, in donation barrels placed at each of the district’s fire stations. These items will not be part of the competition among the schools, but will go toward feeding needy families. Delivery of all the food and toys collected is set for Dec. 22.
Last year, donations from the food and toy drive provided a Christmas dinner and a week’s supply of food for 120 families, SKFR spokeswoman Donna Conner said. Additionally, 479 children received holiday presents because of the drive, she said.
Contact Jacinda Howard:
jhoward@fedwaymirror.com
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To get involved with this year’s drive, contact Donna Conner at South King Fire and Rescue at (253) 946-7246. To view a list of South King Fire and Rescue stations, visit www.federalwayfire.org. To donate by check, make checks payable to Community Toy and Food Drive and drop the money off at one of the district’s stations.
