Looking at the sprawl of boxes at the Columbus Middle School's activity entrance Wednesday morning, you might have guessed there would be a 1,000 pounds of goods including canned vegetables, cereals, pastas and cooking oils. Maybe 2,000 if you've seen the "Price Is Right."
It was more.
Today, the members of the 7th and 8th Student Council (StuCo) loaded 3,353.8 pounds of donated items under a school bus and in a trailer, then delivered the cargo to the Platte County Food Pantry following the annual CMS food drive.
"It's just so much," 8th-grader and StuCo member Tristan Settles noted. "There was a lot this year. I'm shocked by how this turned out."
Tristan, who has participated in the drive as a both student and StuCo, member, was right. This year the group raised 775 more pounds than the 2024 total. Collection from students across the building started on November 5 and ended Wednesday.
Student Council advisor Christina Nilson oversees the undertaking each year. This year featured BINGO. "Each Advisory class got a BINGO card with the most wanted items from the Platte County Food Pantry. Any class with "BINGO" received candy, and classes with a bingo were entered into raffle entry for a popcorn party," she said. "I've never seen so much cooking oil donated. There were a lot items people don't think about on that list, and our students did a great job checking them off."
The packed bus was unloaded to the grateful workers at the pantry. "They were delighted to see us," Nilson said, "and wanted to be sure they thanked the students for their work and donation."
The Platte County Food Pantry is located at 3020 18th Street in Columbus and can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Columbus.ne.