Niles High School students spent their Valentine’s Day showing some love for the Niles Salvation Army with a kick off of their Fight Against Hunger food drive.

The food drive is a dual effort coordinated with Buchanan High School.

“This is a new (drive) this year,” said Karissa Young, teacher adviser for Niles High Schools’ Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD). SADD groups at both high schools are sponsoring the school-wide event.

The goal: the schools hope to receive 1,000 items to donate to The Salvation Army in two weeks.

At Niles High School, Young said the school is aiming for a 1,000-item combined goal but is also shooting for 1,000 items collected by Niles’ own student body, community members and parents.

“We have approximately 1,000 students in the school,” she said. “That’s one item a kid. Since I’ve been here — I’ve been here 10 years — we’ve had great food drives but if we get 1,000 items this will be the biggest food drive. Even if we reach 1,000 things between both schools, that’s huge.”

The idea came from the depletion of resources often felt by food pantries following the large-scale need around the holidays.

“We do the Christmas ones and after talking to so many people around … a lot of the food banks are so empty right now because everyone gives at Christmastime and everyone is in the giving mode at Christmas,” Young said. “The food banks are just empty right now.”

The idea was talked about prior to the holidays, and recent reports of high rates of homelessness in the area fueled the importance of the drive for Young.

“Just the thought of that is, wow, these are kids that walk down the halls,” she said. “We need to do something.”

She added she’s hoping to make the Fight Against Hunger food drive an annual event.

Some incentives for students to collect items for the drive include a chance to win a number of prizes, act as superintendent for a day, throw a pie in a teacher’s face and see Principal Jim Knoll kiss a pig.

“The need is all year,” Young said. “Not just at the holidays.”

Buchanan students did not have school on Monday and Niles High School students will be out of class next week for parent-teacher conferences. Young hopes parents will get in on the giving by bringing donations in during conferences or dropping them off at the high school office. Community members are also encouraged to bring donations in to the school.

“We’re hoping next year to even make it bigger and make it three, four or five different schools collecting all together, coming together,” Young said.