Five FCA Huddles from western Marathon County (Wis.) competed in a food drive last October. Between Marathon, Athens, Spencer, Stratford, and Edgar high schools, over 750 non-perishable items were collected and delivered to local food pantries around the towns.

Central Wisconsin FCA teamed up with Thrivent Financial as a way to encourage high school students to step outside the classroom and into the community.

“I hope they learned they can serve their communities as a Huddle group, that they don’t have to be a self-contained entity,” Jeff Tarras, Northland FCA Area Representative, stated. “They have a purpose in the greater community, not just on their own campus.”

Edgar High School, the winning Huddle, poses with some of the items collected in the county-wide food drive.

Each participating school received $75 for their Huddle. The winning Huddle received another $150. “We set a start date, and finished eight days later, and as soon as the drive ended at midnight, whoever emailed me a photo of their group and items collected first received another $75 bonus,” added Tarras.

“The local sports with these schools can be pretty competitive,” Tarras noted. “The different Huddles brought that mentality to the food drive, wanting to collect the most items and claim the crown.”

Edgar High School wasted no time in spreading the word about the drive. “The week it started we sent little slips of paper home with all the elementary and middle school kids so they would know,” Mariah Zettler, junior and Huddle co-leader, explained.

“We even opened it up to our other school that we have in town, a parochial school, and they did really good, too. We opened it up to our community, and we put bins down by our fitness center and did an event at a basketball game where if you brought in two canned goods you got in free.”

The first few days, their bins were sparse. However, by the end of the drive, Jesus multiplied the items like feeding the 5,000.

“It just shows that He supports you when you least expect it,” affirmed Zettler. “The beginning we were so empty, and at the end everything was in over abundance. He really works for you when you work for Him. We had said a prayer for it at our Huddle, and it seemed like after that we were getting a lot of stuff. He knew we just wanted to do something good for the community, and He could tell what our hearts were on, and He really helped.”

EHS won with over 410 items collected, though the other schools matched enthusiasm. The prize money will be used to send kids to FCA Camp this summer, an offering junior and co-leader Katie Heiden, who attends camp each summer, said relieves the financial burden. “I want to send as many kids to the camps as we can, so having the extra money was nice.”

The familiar environment of FCA offers a haven to grow and nurture students at EHS. “It’s a way to share your faith with everybody and make your own little family at school. It is hard sometimes, a lot of people don’t want to hear what you have to say, don’t want to give anything a chance,” Heiden admitted.

Second place Athens High School shows their collection enthusiasm at a Huddle meeting.

“FCA to me is a place that I can go if I’m having a bad week. It’s a way for me to spread my faith and show other people the things that I know, and from the Leadership Camps I’ve gone to I try to show them how to be better leaders. I learn from them, and learn more about God.”

Heiden also recognized the little pieces that fit together to make a large impact. “I learned that a little bit really does help make a big difference. By doing little things it makes a big difference to some people’s lives.”

Helping food pantries and sharing with those in need brings a deeper satisfaction than simply doing.

“For me, doing something good just makes you feel better and makes you feel like you’re showing off to show other people what you’ve done to make other people think you’re a good person,” Zettler said. “Doing it as a service to God and for Christ, to me, is more like you don’t do it for other people to say ‘Hey, good job.’

“You do it more to feel that inner pride and feel you get a signal from God like, ‘Hey, that’s what I wanted. That was something I was waiting for you to do. I’ve been sending you those signs lately.’ It’s more of a personal feeling and personal pride when you do it for God rather than receiving the pride from other people.”