Caney Valley students fill classroom with food for fellow students in need

CANEY VALLEY, Okla. — Caney Valley Public Schools students are going above and beyond for their fellow students in need this holidays season.

When you walk inside Caney Valley High School English teacher Meg Wilson’s classroom, you will find desks pushed out of the way to make room for boxes and boxes of food.

The district is going on about a decade of hosting a holiday food drive. Families in need sign up for “care packages.” Then, the district works to collect enough to provide breakfast, lunch and dinner for each family member for the week-long Thanksgiving break and the two week long Christmas break.

Typically, Wilson said sign-up includes about 5-8 families, but this year there are 12 so far and she thinks that number will probably go up. She told FOX23, “It’s hard when you’re trying to buy eggs and they’re like 4 dollars a dozen, that’s insane.”

On top of current soaring food prices, Wilson said, “unfortunately, poverty is something all of our students are familiar with.” Despite this higher need, however, Wilson said this is the largest number of donations ever collected and students and staff are still going.

“We can’t have other people during their Thanksgiving and Christmas break starving and not having anything to eat, it’s just not right,” said senior Caleb Peck. They’re a group so generous, Wilson said she likes to swap Caney Valley for Caring Valley.

“I’m so proud of these kids, I mean as you can see, this is above and beyond what they needed to do, they’re such good people and they don’t always get the credit for that, so I just wanted the world to see that this is Caney Valley, these are our students,” she said.

Wilson also said the district will probably have enough to provide meals for Thanksgiving, Christmas and spring break next year. Donated meat, milks, eggs and bread will also be added.

The drive is dedicated to longtime school custodian Paulette Ward who away a few years ago. Wilson said she was an incredibly generous staff member who often helped others, so each care package includes her picture.

If you would like to donate to the drive, you can drop non-perishable food items off at the Caney Valley administration building or middle or high school offices.