While most of their Live Oak High School classmates were at home enjoying the extended Thanksgiving break with family and friends, eight Future Business Leaders of America students were back on campus the morning of Nov. 20.
Inside the “Food Service” building, these dedicated Acorns were hard at work, filling 125 cardboard apple bin boxes with all the staples to make a complete Thanksgiving dinner, along with other cooking essentials and cleaning supplies.
Once the care packages are filled, there’s one more stop to make before delivering them to 125 needy families—and that’s to the local Walmart where the same number of turkeys were purchased thanks to a generous donation from the San Martin Lion’s Club.
The San Martin club, along with their counterparts from the Morgan Hill Lion’s Club, also drive a select number of students around South County to different homes to deliver the Turkey Day care packages Nov. 22. Along with the Thanksgiving fixings and a 10- to 12-pound turkey, each family also receives a grocery bag filled with food including potatoes, fruits, rice, beans, tortillas, cake mix, spaghetti, flour, toilet paper and a large container of laundry detergent.
It’s been a FBLA tradition at Live Oak HS for more than three decades.
“It’s our big project every year. I look forward to doing it,” said 17-year-old Kai Leong, an FBLA co-president who joined the student organization as a freshman. “It’s sad that this is my last year, but maybe I’ll come back to help out next year.”
The Live Oak HS senior is one of the students who will make the deliveries the day before Thanksgiving. He has dedicated his time to doing so for the last four years.
“It’s great,” Leong said. “We show up at their door and they always have a happy look on their face.”
The community service project is made possible each year by FBLA volunteer advisor Kiki Nakauchi, who has overseen the planning and production of the Thanksgiving special delivery since taking it over nearly four decades ago. Each year, Nakauchi sends out word to each of the schools in Morgan Hill Unified School District. She alerts them to how many families they can designate for the delivery and then compiles the list with names and addresses.
“She knows the community needs help and we’re real thankful to have her,” said FBLA co-president Kaden Kim, a four-year member and high school senior. “If she didn’t do it, I’m not sure anybody else would. We need her.”
Nakauchi’s husband, Yosh, collects the large apple bins from local grocery stores every day until he’s got 125 of them. Bonnie Cherry, one of Nakauchi’s former students, as well as Cherry’s husband, separate all the donated cans from the FBLA’s canned food drive. This year, eight LOHS teachers participated in the food drive, including top earners Kaiti Whitmyre (874 cans) and QA Nguyen (737 cans).
“It’s a lot of work,” said Nakauchi, who meets weekly with the FBLA students throughout the year. “They need to see some of the very kids who are coming to this school (who receive the deliveries). Otherwise, they may not know.”
Nakauchi runs a tight ship, keeping a watchful eye on her FBLA students Nov. 20 as they fill the packages with equal amounts of canned veggies such as corn, beans and sweet potatoes as well as bags of flour and sugar. Later on, the students, who get community service credits for participating, separate large bags of rice and beans purchased by Nakauchi at Costco into smaller ones for each of the 125 families.
“I just enjoy being here. All the food goes to a good cause so it makes it all worth it,” said Leong, who will be on campus “until we finish, as long as needed.”
The previous week, Kim, as well as other FBLA students, camped out in front of the local Safeway stores to collect canned food and donations from the community.
“This is where it all goes to,” said Kim, scanning the room filled with stacks of cans and boxes. “It’s important to contribute your time to help others. That’s what the holidays are all about.”
Kim’s older brother was an FBLA member before him and he got involved even before his freshman year. But last year was his first delivering to the needy families.
“It’s worth it when you see how happy they get,” Kim said. “The smiles on their faces make it all worth it.”
It’s important to contribute your time to help others. That’s what the holidays are all about.
