Morton District 201 held its annual food drive in partnership with the Cicero-Berwyn-Stickney food pantry, collecting canned goods and non-perishable items. With the participation of teachers and 10 classes, the class that collected the most items was awarded a pizza party. Mr. Andrew  Todaro’s Morton East class wons by having collected the most cans. In total, over 500 cans were collected for the drive which occurred from October 20 to November 22 for 2nd-hour classes.

Morton West and its clubs, such as Key Club, have been involved with the Cicero-Berwyn-Stickney food pantry for over 16 years. Student incentives have been added for different years of the food drive, such as passes to skip out on dressing for gym class. For 2022, the incentive was a pizza party for 2nd-hour classes. Richard Wyskiel, a Special Education teacher was the organizer of the food drive. “Even when I went to school here during 1997-2001, we had the food drive.” The significance of assisting food pantries during the holiday season is due to their struggle to provide food in an effort to eliminate hunger. The food pantries stay open all year round as the additional food helps families in need when the supply at the food pantry declines.

The importance of food pantries was emphasized during the pandemic, as families were financially shaken up and/or food insecure. Although food pantries were higher in need, schools and communities were unable to plan activities to assist the food pantry during that difficult times. Now that safety/quarantine policies have lifted, schools have started to do food drives again, Morton being no exception.

The Cicero-Berwyn-Stickney food pantry is a member of the Greater Chicago Food Depository and is located at Gethsemane Lutheran Church, 1937 S. 50th Avenue in Cicero.