GREAT FALLS — Instead of spending Halloween trick-or-treating, C.M. Russell High School Drama students are spending part of the day collecting food and household essentials for students at their own school.
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The Drama Department is holding its annual “Trick or Treat So Kids Can Eat” event, collecting donations for the CMR Food Pantry.
Students will be stationed at Westside Albertsons and Smith’s from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Oct. 31, giving shoppers lists of requested items as they enter and collecting donations as they leave.
The effort comes at a time when food pantry volunteer Brenda Huston says supplies can run low.
“There are days, however, that we are quite low in food,” Huston said.
And the pantry’s needs go beyond groceries.
Requested donations include cereal, oatmeal, peanut butter, pasta, canned fruits and vegetables, and other foods, along with paper products, laundry and dish detergent, feminine hygiene products, toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant and other toiletries.
Senior Jonas Hibbs said what may seem like a simple afternoon outside a grocery store can add up to a substantial amount of support.
“At the base of it, we’re just standing outside a store and going, ‘Hey, buy these for us,’ while we look stupid in our costumes,” Hibbs said. “But, like, in the end, we get so much food.”
For fellow senior Alex Mygland, the annual drive also gives the Drama Department another way to contribute to CMR.
“It’s really a nice opportunity for us to get out and just kind of support our school in a great way,” Mygland said.
The food drive also accepts monetary donations, which can be used to purchase perishable items for the pantry as needed.
For Huston, the effort ultimately comes back to making sure students have access to what they need.
“Whatever we all can do to help these students out, to provide meals and extra things for the kids, whatever we can provide,” Huston said.
For the CMR Drama students, Halloween is still about collecting, but this time, it’s for someone else.
