Hatboro-Horsham’s student council is recruiting underclassmen earlier to sustain long-running service projects, such as Feed-a-Friend, an event that has become a monumental aspect of the Hatboro-Horsham community.
A lot of students only hear about Student Council, which is often referred to as “STUCO,” when homecoming rolls around, but the group does a lot more than people realize. The club has morphed into more of a service organization, hosting events that serve as fundraisers to help the community. Feed-a-Friend is an annual food drive that they organize, benefiting those experiencing food insecurities in the community. They spend December reaching out to those in the community to ask for donations, collect the donations not long after then pack them up to be delivered before winter break.
STUCO advisor Joseph Grady said the drive requires substantial effort from current and former students and staff members who solicit donations, collect them and package items for delivery. Feed-a-Friend has been running for over 20 years, and this is Grady’s ninth year coordinating the event. When he first started, they delivered to about 40 families. Now, they are delivering food items to around 100 families in the community, and they hope to continue to grow that number as the tradition lives on.
Because Feed-a-Friend requires so much planning and long-term involvement, STUCO realized it needed to start bringing students in earlier. Originally, STUCO avoided adding freshmen to the club because they were still adjusting to high school. This year, they changed that approach.
“This isn’t the first year [with freshman in the club], but it has been a while since we actively reached out to [them]. We softened the stance this year simply because we wanted students to get the full Feed-a-Friend and STUCO experience immediately so that they see the value that [the club] provides [to] the community.”
Engaging student leaders as freshmen also means giving them early insight into important roles and responsibilities. Student Council has two types of leadership roles: overall officers, who make decisions about which events are done and how they do them, and Feed-a-Friend officers, who not only coordinate STUCO’s biggest event, but also teach younger members how to run it.
In hindsight, the student council leaders clearly made the right choice. The underclassmen have become essential to Student Council continuing to thrive year after year.
“Getting the experience of doing the things we do early on allows them to carry on traditions we have and pass on that gained experience to future classes so that we always have the ability to provide for our community,” Grady said.
As Student Council continues to grow and adapt, its focus on service and leadership remains the same. With underclassmen stepping into roles earlier, STUCO hopes to keep their traditions running strong for years to come.
