NHS went door to door and collected food in the neighborhoods surrounding the school on Sunday Feb. 22, as part of a food drive for the De Soto Food Pantry.

The club members gave out fliers on Thursday, Feb. 18, around the community to spread awareness for the event. On the day of the food drive, the students picked up food bags and knocked on doors asking for any donations households might have.

“At first, it was a little bit awkward, but as went went along with it, it got better. Most people were pretty nice, and I feel like we were pretty successful,” senior Lindsey Hamner said.

As one of the 16 students to participate in the drive, junior Kacey Meeks’ favorite part was having conversations with the families who donated.

“It was fun when some of the people when you went to their door would try to start a conversation with you. A couple of them asked where I was going to college and we had some conversations, I thought that was fun,” Meeks said. “I like doing community service projects because helping out the community is just something that I feel everyone needs to do.”

Hamner enjoyed getting to spend time with friends while serving the community.

“My favorite part was just getting to go around with my friends and just knowing we were doing a good deed. It was a good time,” Hamner said.

According to Hamner, community service events are a beneficial experience for the people serving and NHS is a great way to get those opportunities.

“It is important to do community service because helping people out who are less fortunate than you is just something you should do. If you like to serve and you’re really into helping people out, you should join NHS because they provide you with a lot of good opportunities to do that,” Hamner said. “A big focus of NHS is leadership, and, if you’re out in the community serving, you’re setting a good example and so we’re able to be leaders that way.”

Meeks thinks participating in community service is a perfect way to honor the school and set an example for others.

“I think community service is important because it’s like school pride, you want to do good for your school so you can represent your school well, and that’s what NHS is about,” Meeks said. “We do lots of activities around the community just to get out there and help but also to show that Mill Valley is in support of our community.”