The annual Ed Schreiner Memorial Toy and Jacket Drive hosted by the Student Council Apache Commission (SCAC) was wrapped up on Dec. 9 after the truck was loaded with the toys and jackets donated by students and staff across AHS. Along with SCAC, volunteers from Senior Men and Women (SMW) and National Honor Society (NHS) also helped out in collecting the toys and jackets from each classroom and in the overall process of the drive. Senior Shinjini Das, member of SCAC, expressed, “We had a lot of stuff this year! We were [at school] for more than an hour [to load everything on the truck], which is a long time considering how many of us were helping out.” 

Senior Filbert Aung, another member of SCAC, described how the drive is a “district-wide endeavor” that “involves the help of the entire district to send whatever clothing and household goods that may be use of the White Mountain Apaches.” It works like this: people have a week to drop off all donations at school sites and district sites. When collected, the donations are then organized. Filbert detailed how “wheeled vehicles are separated to be repaired before also being put in the [loading] truck. A Penske truck is loaded up and our driver, Mr. Talon, and a school administrator, this year Mr. Finn, take the drive to Whiteriver, Arizona, where monetary and material donations can be distributed to the community.”

The drives hosted by SCAC serve as a way for us Apaches of AHS to maintain contact with the White Mountain Apache community. By “acknowledging their struggles and becoming their ally,” Filbert believes that “SCAC helps foster a sense of mutual respect.” Because the White Mountain Apaches live in the mountains where the climate is extreme in the winter, it’s necessary for us to give them a helping hand. Because we students are, as Shinjini expressed, “using their name as Apaches,” it’s essential that we respect and dignify them as a people. “SCAC promotes the message that it is all Arcadians’ responsibility to stand in solidarity with our parallel White Mountain Apache community,” Filbert concluded. 

By helping out our fellow Apaches, we grow closer to fully understanding their struggles as well as their rich culture. Fortunately, the Ed Schreiner Memorial Toy and Jacket Drive is not the only drive that SCAC hosts annually. Upcoming is their Spring Money Drive, where people can donate money to the White Mountain Apaches. If you wish to help out during that time, find posters around campus with information or ask a friendly SCAC member at school! 

Graphic Courtesy of Arcadia High School SCAC