St. Francis kicked off its annual canned food drive on Nov. 1. Each year the St. Francis family partners with the local community to collect canned food for its sister parish, St. Lawrence of Brindisi, located in Watts. St. Lawrence of Brindisi serves several hundred needy families located in an area that suffers from poverty and gang activity. As part of the Capuchin Franciscan mission, St. Lawrence of Brindisi uses the canned food provided by the St. Francis community to help create over 1,000 baskets of food for families in need during the holidays. The more cans the St. Francis community collects, the more food is distributed to those who are less fortunate.

This year, the student leaders of the Campus Ministry team have established a lofty goal of collecting over 10,000 cans. This means that each student will need to bring in an average of 15 cans in order to reach the mark.     Another part of the students’ charitable efforts is to provide turkeys to the families of St. Lawrence. At the student body Mass on Nov. 20, the Campus Ministry team will be collecting financial donations from the students. The money collected during Mass will be used to purchase turkeys for those in need. Last year, the generosity and sacrifice of the students enabled the school to purchase 44 turkeys. Once again, the turkeys purchased this year will be delivered along with the canned food to St. Lawrence of Brindisi on Nov. 20 by the members of the Campus Ministry team leading the event.

Anyone who has canned food they would like to donate can drop them off in the front office at St. Francis High School at 200 Foothill Blvd. in La Canada Flintridge. All contributions go directly to helping families in need.

For more information, call (818) 790-0325 ext. 513 or email burghdorfa@sfhs.net.