The Butler Education Association hosts a tailgate party food drive at a Butler Senior High School football game each year. A member of the union said the group also has a drive in the spring, usually at the Fine Arts & Beyond Showcase.

But why stop there?

Marina Lagattuta, a high school English teacher who ran the Friday, Sept. 25, food drive, said many recipients of food from the school district’s food cupboards remark about how needed the program is. Would it be possible for every Friday night football game to have a tailgate food drive to help contribute to those food cupboards?

Really, food drives for schools can take place at any school function and can be organized by other school faculty members or even students. Have a canned food drive at band concerts, musicals and plays, yearbook functions and sporting events of all kinds, at all grade levels. There are definitely patrons who would contribute at each of these school-sanctioned events.

The teachers’ union is made up of and led people who understand the impact of their work, and that includes service to the students of their community.

Perhaps the biggest driver to gather donations for food for students would be to advocate for how much supplying food to students improves school faculty’s working conditions because of the benefit it provides to the students. That advocacy falls into the union leader’s main job and that could drive people to plan food drives at more school functions.

So if you see a leader of a teachers’ union, ask them where to drop a can of soup.

— ET