This year’s district-wide Jack Emery Drive collected about $12,306.26 out of the $15,000 goal, according to ASB President and Jack Emery District Coordinator Atharv Vyas.
The Jack Emery Drive is an annual season where schools in the district donate money or cans to the Milpitas Food Pantry, Vyas said. Jack Emery was a man from Nebraska who had wanted to help families that may have had no food during the holiday season, Vyas added.
“Jack Emery started, along with the Milpitas Food Pantry, a donation drive that would collect money and cans and hold events to help these low income families,” Vyas said. “And after he died, he kind of handed off to someone at the district. So ever since then, along with all the other schools in the district, Milpitas High School has been planning and running this whole drive in honor of his legacy.”
ASB made the decision to only accept monetary donations because it was easier logistically, Vyas said.
“What we would always have to do is sort the cans, box them, and have to pay transportation, try to get it all to one area, and then hand it over to the food pantry,” Vyas said. “But with cash, it’s just much easier, just because the money goes directly to the food pantry. They can use it for other things, like plates or better facilities.”
To make up for the lack of donations of cans, clothes, or other necessities, ASB planned to host a winter ball in order to raise enough money to meet the goal, Vyas said. However, the Winter Ball was cancelled due to a lack of ticket sales, he added.
“The Winter Ball originally wasn’t on the events list for the teachers (…) so we had to incorporate it as the Jack Emery Benefit Ball to get admin approval,” Vyas said. “The dance wasn’t scheduled to be as an event this year, and if it was successful we were planning on making it a scheduled event next year. But that didn’t happen.”
ASB started planning for the Jack Emery season right after Homecoming, according to Jack Emery PR Commissioner Annaya Bhardwaj. However, something she would’ve done differently is to get publicity out faster, Bhardwaj added.
“Honestly, it’s been kind of slow, but I’m hoping that we can definitely get out more pub(licity),” Bhardwaj said. “It’s kind of up and down. I think that it has been successful, but obviously there’s always room for improvement.”
This year, like past years, the middle schools and the elementary schools in the district are competing against MHS to see which school can raise the most money, Raj said.
“If we lose, then we have to plan a field day for the elementary schoolers, and then we have to dress up as their mascots and do a dance,” Raj said. “If we lose to the middle schools, we have to get pied in the face by their officers, and then put feathers on the pie and pluck around like chickens.”
Despite the competition to see who can raise the most amount of money with the elementary and middle schools, the emphasis on the community remains the same, according to Vyas.
“The visions always stay the same,” Vyas said. “That vision has always been bringing the community together as a whole and contribute it towards doing good in the community.”