Hatboro-Horsham School District's 105-member Student Council led the community in collecting more than 30,000 non-perishable food items this holiday season as part of its annual Feed-A-Friend program. In the end, 92 families living within the school district had food on the table for Christmas – and beyond – as a result of the collaborative effort.

"It's nice to see that people still care about each other," senior Michael Gildin said, gesturing toward the abundance of canned goods that lined the high school's hallway prior to distribution. "People were really giving this year."

As they had done in previous years, students dropped off collection bags on households' doorsteps in early December. But, this year, instead of having their collection efforts sidelined by a huge snowstorm, students were pleasantly surprised when the overflowing bags were picked up. "We were really lucky," junior Mary Kate Holman said.

In fact, this year's collection generated the most donations in any of the five past years since the program began, according to Dave Thomas, student council co-advisor. Thomas said he organizes the event as a way to take care of the community here. "There's need everywhere," Thomas said. "Food banks are great, but we forget about our own."

Each of the families received a turkey and several boxes of food, enough to last them several weeks, Thomas said.