Pleasant Hills Middle School annual Thanksgiving food drive delivers for community

The WJHSD community donated approximately 20,000 lbs. of food prior to Thanksgiving

The Pleasant Hills Middle School’s (PHMS) annual Thanksgiving Food Drive again was a tremendous success, thanks to staff, students, families and members of the West Jefferson Hills School District (WJHSD) community coming together to help those in need. The drive has been a tradition for more than 20 years for PHMS students, staff and the community to provide food and again demonstrate the empathy district families have for those in need in the Mon Valley and South Hills.

All items collected during the PHMS Thanksgiving Food Drive were donated to the food bank at the Olivet United Presbyterian Church in West Elizabeth. Approximately 20,000 lbs. of food was donated. Middle school students and staff loaded the donations onto a 26-foot truck and a pick-up truck and unloaded the items at the church in time for distribution leading up to Thanksgiving.

The PHMS donations will help those in need through February 2024, according to the West Elizabeth Food Bank.

Members of the community began bringing food items to bins at PHMS and all district schools in mid-October. Fans attending the October 27 TJ football game helped “Pack the Truck” with the donations they brought to TJ Stadium.

Six students in Mike McCabe’s PHMS 7th grade homeroom each collected and donated more than 100 cans for the drive: Nico Curl, Justin Lorenzi, Mycah McCabe, Emma Murtagh, Natalie Sear and Vanessa Warden. The four girls went door-to-door in their neighborhoods and combined to collect more than 600 cans of food.

“It’s important because some people don’t have enough food or enough food for a Thanksgiving meal,” Mycah McCabe said. “I believe it’s important to be generous and to be kind. My friends and I went around the neighborhoods and were able to collect a lot of cans for the food drive.”

Pleasant Hills Middle School teachers Bob Kerr and Mike McCabe were the co-organizers of the PHMS food drive. McCabe, who teaches 7th grade social studies, challenged his homeroom class to collect 1,500 cans of food and promised to have his head and beard shaved if the class met the goal. His students just edged past the goal with 1,521 cans collected and several students and PHMS teacher Will Boger shaved McCabe’s head before loading the truck.