Everyone should donate to the Thanksgiving canned food drive because it is JC’s best way to help the needy in our community. However, the prospect of being a Good Samaritan isn’t always enough motivation. This year, the Romero Club did an awesome job encouraging students to participate with better prizes and rewards.

In previous years, the Random Prize Patrol came to randomly selected advisories a few times a week to see if a certain student in that advisory had brought in their canned goods. If that student had brought in his or her cans, then that advisory got a free breakfast from the cafeteria.

This approach was okay, but it was nothing special. It was disappointing if your advisory had been randomly selected, you had brought in your cans, but the student who was chosen hadn’t. That’s why this year’s method was so much better.

This year the Romero Club randomly selected two advisories twice a week. When the two advisories were selected, the one that had more total cans would win. The fact that the prize wasn’t dependent on just one person in the advisory was a great idea. No student wants to be the reason their advisory doesn’t get a free breakfast.

Choosing two advisories also added an element of competition. Sure, there was already a competition for being the advisory with the most cans, but when was the last time social studies teacher Jake Hollin’s advisory lost?

The prize was also different from day to day, so it kept the competition interesting. I know I wanted my advisory to be picked for some Dunkin’ Donuts. While I always try to bring in my canned goods, I was more motivated to remember them this year. Never knowing if your advisory could be chosen motivates you to bring in your cans sooner rather than later, and the competition makes you bring in more.

The new system seemed to work better than the old, seeing as we surpassed our record for the most canned goods ever raised. The Romero Club deserves a round of applause for getting the JC community to help out a wonderful cause.

Emily Clarke is the Print Chief for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.