The official student news site of Athens Drive High School

ATHENS ORACLE

The official student news site of Athens Drive High School

ATHENS ORACLE

The official student news site of Athens Drive High School

ATHENS ORACLE

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Athens holds 3rd annual food drive to honor former students

The Muslim Student Association (MSA) of Athens Drive is holding the annual “Feed their Legacy” national food drive from February 28 to March 28. The food drive is held in honor of the three victims of the Chapel Hill shooting in 2015: Razan Abu-Salha, Yusor Abu-Salha and Deah Barakat.

Athens Drive has participated in this food drive the past two years, collecting thousands of cans from the two years combined. The cans are also collected by various local worship places and organizations. They are given to food banks in the Raleigh area that the three victims were all passionate about serving. All three were a part of the United Muslim Relief non-profit, which aims to help others around the world who are in need.

“Over the past two years there have been countless service projects and food drives in their honor. Personally, Deah, Yusor, and Razan inspire me to be the best version of myself,” said Salam Ibrahim, senior.

Barakat’s last facebook post before his death was about an evening where he and others gave out free food and dental supplies to those in need. He was a student at the School of Dentistry at UNC Chapel Hill and a co-organizer of a fundraiser to provide dental care to Syrian refugees in Turkey. Support and fundraising for those efforts have been another way people have worked to honor their memories.

This nationally recognized food drive is to honor their memory and continue their legacy of selflessness and serving others. Both Razan and Yusor were a part of MSA during their time at Athens Drive, and the current MSA students hope to honor “Our Three Winners” and continue the food drive each year.

“The mission is to build on the work that Our Three Winners did and continue the legacy of altruism and benevolence in a sustainable way,” according to a statement made by the “Our Three Winners” endowment.

According to the Feed Their Legacy website, as of March 28, the organization has conducted 287 food drives, collected 172,612 cans and raised over $20,000 to buy cans. More than 250 mosques and student groups in over 30 states have participated in conducting food drives for their local pantries.  

The annual food drive at Athens was started by Patricia Hornick and Grady Elrod, English teachers, to help contribute to the national food drive. The school offers a prize to the first period class that collects the most cans in order to encourage students to donate for the greater cause of helping the less fortunate.  The class that won earned a free breakfast from Bojangles as a reward for their contribution.

Through honoring “Our Three Winners,” donors hope to encourage others around community to get involved in service through donations and volunteering. The MSA has high hopes for creating a sense of unity among the local area to inspire others to have goals and ambitions that can improve the lives of others.

“When it happened two years ago it definitely shocked the whole community. It took awhile for the community to process it and made everyone so much closer. I and others are a lot more aware of our actions in public because of all the negative stereotypes out there,” said Ibrahim.

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