St. Thomas More High School Celebrates Stuff the Bus with Food Drive Competition
From Left to Right: Elizabeth Kay, Sierra Cruz, David Jensen, Filumena Muro, Tony “Radar” Hess, and Producer Dave Stein from 99.1 The Mix at the Stuff the Bus Kick Off Pep Rally.
St. Thomas More High School instills a sense of generosity into their students from the moment they walk in the doors freshman year.
The catholic school’s servant leadership program began in 2016, with the students participating in one service event per semester. The number of service hours increase as students work their way closer to graduation, culminating in the Senior Service Week Capstone Project. For this project, students spend an entire week, with a minimum of 35 hours, at a service site in the Milwaukee community.
As the first class to kick off the servant leadership program, seniors Filumena Muro, Sierra Cruz and David Jensen shared that giving back is especially important to their grade. This is evident by the fact that the class of 2020 collected the most donations for St. Thomas More’s Stuff the Bus food drive for the past three years in a row.
“Sometimes we get caught up in the idea that this is a competition, but for me personally it’s that we are all working together as a school and that we are all helping our community,” Cruz said. “There’s a certain kind of unity between the community and us as a school, which I always really like.”
“Servant leadership is kind of a buzz word right now,” Jensen added. “It means you are leading in a way that serves, you are not leading just to lead. Being that first group feels special that we were able to build on that.”
On Wednesday, November 27, student representatives will bring all the food they collected on a St. Thomas More mini bus, to then be transferred to one of the Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) buses as part of Stuff the Bus 2019. The food drive runs the day before Thanksgiving from 6 a.m. – 6 p.m. at the Pick n’ Save Wauwatosa at 1717 N Mayfair Rd.
Morning radio hosts Elizabeth Kay (Thomas More 2000 graduate) and Tony Radar Hess from 99.1 The Mix will be broadcasting the entire event as all community members are invited to stuff MCTS buses with non-perishable food and/or frozen turkeys for those facing hunger. Prior to the event, shoppers can also stop by Pick ‘n Save and purchase pre-packed $5 bags filled with Thanksgiving sides, which will later be stuffed on the buses.
“I like seeing how much we collected because it looks like a whole store is packed in our little bus,” Muro said. “When the bags break from all the food, that’s a good sign.”
When asked what advice the students have for other schools and organizations that want to launch their own food drive, Jensen simply stated that it only takes one person to start something.
“You shouldn’t be afraid to find other people who are willing to help you,” Cruz added. “You should find people who have a common goal and work together, instead of trying to do it all on your own.”
St. Thomas More volunteers in front of the school’s mini bus at the 2018 Stuff the Bus.
