This year, JROTC decided to kick off the holiday season by giving back to the community with a canned food drive. They offered prizes for the top three donors and volunteer hours to anyone who brought in five cans or three boxes. They didn’t need to offer anything for the rush of support that came in from the school.

“We had a lot of participation last year,” Abigail Niazian said.

Those good results have inspired the JROTC students to give back to the public once again, this time aiming for an even higher rate of donations.  

“We were shooting for 1,000 cans, but we’re probably in the neighborhood of 600,” Col. Marks said .

All of the cans were sent to the Society of Samaritans, a charity organization that provides food, clothing, and emergency services to those who need it.

“One of the things we stress in JROTC is helping your community,” Niazian said .

As leader of one of six flights, Niazian was hoping to collect 150 cans this year. She got 295 instead. Each flight consists of several ROTC students and a leader, who work to collect cans.

“It’s like we’re giving back to the people that can’t have a turkey on Thanksgiving,” Isabella Alarcon said. Her flight collected 100 cans, and she says that she and her classmates were just trying to collect as many cans as possible.

There will be future can drives later this year so you can show your support by bringing in donations to the ROTC room.