Jupiter High’s JROTC Program held a food drive on Oct. 31 in the school’s bus loop to collect food for St. Peter’s Catholic Church food bank. For each can donated, students received one community service hour.

For over ten years, the JROTC Program has been holding various fundraisers and offering community service hours opportunities not just for students in the program but also for all students interested in giving back through JROTC-sponsored programs. Jupiter High’s JROTC offerS community service to students for activities like organizing football games, selling candy at sporting events and participating in competitions. 

However, with COVID-19, the JROTC food drive had different procedures than before.

“This food drive was different because of the inability for all the Cadets to participate in person. However, Cadets at home were able to drive through and still help with the project,” Chief Javier Gonzalez, a JROTC instructor, said.

Students collecting cans from car trunks had to take precautions.

“Cadets wore masks and disposable gloves while maintaining social distancing. In addition, a vehicle would pull up and open their trunk. Cans were collected and a service hour sheet was given to the occupants through the window,” Gonzalez said.

Since this was the first JROTC food drive during a pandemic, only a certain amount of cadets were allowed to gather and help collect cans. Although the process of helping out the community during a global pandemic was new to everyone, the event went as planned and the program collected dozens of cans.

“I think the food drive was safe. Everyone was taking precautions and nobody was close to each other, we were all busy doing what we had to do,” Mackenzie Sasser, a Jupiter High junior, said. 

Due to COVID-19 cases escalating across the country, events with people gathering like the food drive could be cancelled in the future, but the JROTC Program is following their motto by staying motivated and helping out the community even during times like these.