Student Government holds holiday drives

By Ari Gevov
Staff Writer

Mira Costa High School’s Student Government is having its annual Adopt-A-Family and Holiday Food Drive, in which the whole school participates in helping less fortunate families celebrate the holidays.

For the past 15 years, all Mira Costa staff members have taken part in the event, titled “Operation Happiness,” in which each staff member gets a sign up sheet and comes together for a canned food drive and to possibly adopt a whole family or adopt a child, so that less fortunate people can enjoy the holidays.

“Each teacher has a choice whether or not they want to adopt a child or a whole family,” Activities Director Lisa Claypoole said. “Every single homeroom class does get a box for canned food items, though.”

All of the classrooms get a cardboard box where students and teachers can drop off their donated cans to help with the fund raising of Operation Happiness.

“I invite all my students to participate in spirit of the holiday season,” math teacher Lynn Rappaport said.

Last year, drama classes raised over 2,000 cans for the Holiday Food Drive and was the lead contributor to the more than 9,000 cans donated in total.

If a class decides to participate in Adopt-a-Family, they provide Christmas presents for everyone in that family. Some different presents are recommended for each girl and boy. These gifts usually range from dolls to basketballs to pajamas. Gifts are also given to the mother and father.

“It would be great if each class would be willing to want to help a family in need,” Chamberlain said. “The kids’ heart should be wanting to donate.”

The canned food bank is run by South Bay Salvation Army, which handles the cans that Costa collects. Adopt-A-Family is supported by the Richstone Center. The center picks the families that Mira Costa personnel and students will work to support for the holidays.

“The Adopt-a-Family and [food drive] is one of my favorite things about student government,” Claypoole said. “It is really great to watch all of the school come together and do amazing things for other people.”