The annual Community Unity Week in the Blue Springs School District was an enormous success once again.

Community Unity Week falls every year when the Jaguar and Wildcats football teams face off. The week is all about helping those that are in need of basic items. Students and staff at all elementary, middle, and high schools in the district are encouraged to bring in canned goods, non-perishable foods, and basic clothing and personal care products. Local businesses helped with fundraising efforts including MOD Pizza, Hy-Vee, and Rod’s Sports & Apparel as well as many others. This year, the district as a whole collected 40,017 items and raised $4,127 all benefiting the Community Services League.

Student Senate President, Senior Carlos Velasquez discussed what Community Unity Week is truly all about.

“Community Unity Week is this whole week encompassed by two things,” Velasquez said, “First off, the spirit of rivalry between Blue Springs and Blue Springs South on the football field. The second and most important thing is the spirit of charity. We come together as a district and bring in items for those in need despite being rivals on the field.”

Out of the over 40,000 items brought in throughout the school district, Blue Springs South donated an eighth of those items with over 5,000 food products and basic necessities that will go directly to the Community Services League.

Each fifth hour class collected items that were formatted like a bingo board. Classes could bring in certain items to fill out the sheet to get a bingo or bring in all the items to get a blackout. Classes were entered into a drawing for a class party every time they got a bingo or a blackout. Mr. Cuele’s fifth hour classes donated the most goods in the school blacking out the bingo board a whopping seven times. The fifth hour that won the    party was       for bingo. The fifth hour class that won the     party was      for blackouts.

Senior Senate member Allie Widick talked about what it was like to see the school come together for Community Unity Week.

“I think it’s so cool because every year people at South bring in so many items and this year we brought in more items than we did last year. We fill so many cars full of boxes of food and it really puts it into perspective truly how much South brings in. The whole South community comes together to make it possible,” Widick said.