Bishop O’Connell High School believes passionately in Christ’s calling to serve those in need. The annual soup drive’s mission is to create a future where people do not suffer from hunger. The cans collected during the two-week-long soup drive benefit the food pantry at Catholic Charities’ Lucy Project in Manassas, VA. In the Arlington Diocese, about a quarter million people do not have reliable access to food. Bishop O’Connell students and staff bring in thousands of soup cans each year to help reduce the number of people starving each night. 

The Student Council Association (SCA) is the driving force behind the annual soup drive. They advertise the importance of just one can of soup and how their soup cans might be the only meal someone has that day. The SCA made daily announcements and they created skits to connect with the student body, encouraging participation to feed as many people as possible. The soup drive has been a tradition at Bishop O’Connell since 1975. In its inaugural year, the soup drive collected 1,153 cans. The number of cans collected has only grown, with this year’s school donation reaching 14,039 cans. 

Each year, the school has a friendly competition to determine which grade collected the most cans. This year the freshmen brought 2,386 cans, the sophomores brought 1440 cans, the juniors brought 1788 cans, and the seniors won with a resounding 6684 cans. Cheri O’Reilly, the Student Council moderator, says the goal for next year’s soup drive would be to collect “24,000 cans of soup.”

At the end of the soup drive, the student body gathers to celebrate the results of the soup drive and to pray a Living Rosary for all the people who will benefit from the food collected. The students and faculty of Bishop O’Connell High School have demonstrated that although the students are still young, you can never be too young to create a lasting change.