With Frisco, and many areas  of the state still recovering from one of the most severe winter storms in decades, Wingspan is teaming up with Student Council and PALs to collect food and water donations for those in need, Monday from 12:00 – 4:00 p.m. in front of the school.

Initiated by Wingspan adviser Brian Higgins, the goal of the drive is to provide support for those who have been affected by the recent power and water shortages caused by the wave of freezing temperatures that put most of Texas in a deep freeze from Feb. 14-18.

“I think most people on campus saw the forecast and instantly thought of snow days and maybe chilling at home for a few days without school, watching shows, reading, or whatever.” Higgins said via email. “But obviously no one warned us about the state’s energy grid possibly failing due to extreme temperatures and demands. I can’t speak for anybody but my family, but we experienced rolling blackouts for several days and a loss of water for about 24 hours. However, we were incredibly fortunate compared to countless other families that lost power and water for days, and those are the people we are trying to help.” 

Although Higgins and his family weren’t severely affected during the events of the past week, he knew that there were those who hadn’t been so lucky and needed help.

“There was an informal Zoom staff meeting on Friday afternoon to discuss the fallout from the storm and among many things discussed, our principal Ashley Rainwater mentioned how some students rely on school for food and nutrition,” Higgins said via email. “But since we aren’t going to be on campus for at least several days, that means some students might be struggling for food and water. As soon as she said that, the idea of a drive popped into my head and she gave me the approval to go ahead with it. The goal is simple: to help students, staff, and their families in need. I don’t think anyone could have predicted the fallout from the severe winter weather we experienced, and whether this helps one person, or dozens of families, as long as it helps someone, it’s worth doing.”

To help kick start Monday’s drive, Higgins and his 12-year-old son Owen, went shopping on Saturday to buy food and water. 

“If people are in a worse position than us, we should probably do something to help,” Owen said via email. 

For Student Council co-sponsor Stephen Friar, understanding the hardships many families are going through sparked him to lend his own support.

“My family experienced some frozen pipes and rolling blackouts, and a lot of snow, but we’re thankful heat loss was minimal,” Friar said via email. “Just because we were fortunate in this instance to not have issues, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a community of people that may need help. I’m just happy to help in any way possible.”

Friar also knew that this was a task the Student Council would be more than willing to aid.

“Student Council is innately the voice and the pulse of the student body,” Friar said via email. “This year has been tough, due to half of us being on campus and the other half being off. This is an opportunity for all of us to come together for the common goal of serving the community.  We can show how strong the Redhawk nation is. When Mrs. Stevens presented this I wanted to tweet it out, because I have a lot of friends in our profession, and in the community who like to serve as well. The hope is this event can inspire others.”

PALs member Anaya Sheikh believes that volunteering in a time of need, especially given the on-going pandemic, has never been more important.

“Thankfully, I was only out of power for a couple of days so I stayed at my cousin’s house for that time period,” Sheikh said via text. “However, I’ve seen many other families become displaced and lose a lot! I understand how hard it can be to struggle, especially in times where people aren’t financially or mentally stable with covid, so I felt it’s important to do my part knowing I’m able to.”