Thanksgiving Day is celebrated each year as a national holiday in North America on the fourth Thursday of November. The holiday of Thanksgiving, and generally the whole month of November, is all about the act of giving thanks—grateful acknowledgements of benefits or favors. As this holiday is specifically meant to bring family and friends together over one big meal to express gratitude, Thanksgiving’s purpose is also to help individuals experience a sense of happiness and wellbeing. Reducing negative emotions such as envy, hatred, and anger with the replacement of positive emotions such as love and empathy, are part of a Thanksgiving tradition.

In order for the ILS community to continue the Thanksgiving tradition of feeding the hungry, and experiencing the joy of giving during the Thanksgiving season, a Wishbone Project that was initially established by a faculty member, Ms. Maria Garces, though organized by the National Honor Society, is an annual drive through where students fill up boxes with enough food to feed a family of six and add in a gift card for a possible purchase of a turkey. These boxes are then delivered to low-income families who live all around the Miami area. The main yearly goal is to reach a full 500 boxes.

A full box must include each of the following items:

• 5 Ib Bag of Rice 
• Red or Black Frijoles 
• Garbanzos or Lentils 
• Canned Vegetables 
• Canola Oil 
• Flour or Maseca 
• Potatoes or Yuca
• Canned Meat (such as Ham, Chicken, or Tuna)
• Parmalat Milk 
• Sugar
• Cereal 
• Apple Juice 
• Peanut Butter (or alternative)
• Strawberry Jelly

On Wednesday, November 16th, Principal Sister Kim Keraitis, FMA announced on the PA that this year ILS barely reached 300 complete boxes. As of this writing, Wishbone is 100 boxes short of the total. Hardly reaching the minimal amount of boxes ILS has promised to distribute. Will the school be able to keep their promise to the less fortunate, or actually reach 500 boxes? 

Since students receive service hours, it stands to reason that more would contribute. One of the obstacles to doing more is that given the expense of creating an entire box full of items, some students would like to receive more service hours in order to incentivize giving.

On the other hand, the whole purpose of Wishbone is to give, not to receive! The enjoyment in this process of purchasing, gathering, and preparing the items should be incentive enough.