On Friday after school, nine MHS students and two guidance counselors spent three hours at the local food bank, packing boxes, tearing them down, and helping load groceries into cars. 

The students are members of the Y.E.S. Interact Club, and the people at the food bank were grateful for their help.

“This lady was on the phone with her daughter and granddaughter and she was like oh you guys are such angels I’m so blessed and she was telling us how grateful she was for it,” Senior Noelani Elizalde said.

Cars were coming by threes and the students put the food in their trucks or back seats and another three cars pulled up.They did this over and over again.The students served more than 250 cars that day.

The students also got something in return.

“It felt good being able to give back to the community and making sure people go home with a decent meal,” Junior Dariyon Ganaway said.

The Y.E.S. Interact Club is for students who want to help others. The club motto is “service above self.” Among its community outreach, the club has volunteered at the food pantry, made gifts for residents at a nursing care facility, sang during the holidays and sponsored a carnival for young children. 

“It really lifts their spirits up, so that’s a great thing,” said Ms. Betty Jordan, a guidance counselor and co-sponsor of the club.

The club meets every other Thursday at 2:20 p.m. until 3:15 in M104, across from the Guidance Office. Guidance Counselor Veronica Maldonado is the other sponsor.

Elizalde, president of the club, joined after attending the HOBY leadership seminar her sophomore year. Elizalde spent three days at Purdue, working with students from different high schools on activities to build leadership skills.

After the experience Elizalde wanted to do something that involved the community.

“I ended up joining Y.E.S./Interact my junior year and it makes me feel really good to give back to a community that was giving so much to me, and that I didn’t really acknowledge until I joined the club,” she said. “I got multiple opportunities to further myself as a person and a leader, and I just wanted to give back as much as I got.”

Ganaway wanted to do many clubs in his high school career and after he joined Y.E.S. Interact he found out there were amazing counselors who run the club and amazing students who were in it including a trip to RYLA, a leadership program sponsored by the Rotary Club.

“RYLA is a trip where it was Friday, Saturday and Sunday where we got to connect and learn so many interesting things from adults,” Ganaway said. 

After RYLA was over Ganaway learned so much from the experience.

“After I was done, I felt a little sad because I had to leave because it was such an amazing experience, and I made some new friends,” Ganaway said.

Junior Malina Powell is the Vice President of this club and felt inspired to volunteer at the food bank and would like to do it again. After her experience at RYLA, she learned that it’s OK to be a follower sometimes.

“If that first person didn’t follow the leader, there would be no leading,” Powell said.