Students Rally Behind Operation Secret Santa with Holiday Food Drive
During the Ideas that Matter series, our third guest speakers were Operation Secret Santa (OSS) nonprofit founder Katie Keys (also known as “Head Elf”) and Honors alumna Lucy Jett Waterbury, who shared OSS’s inspiring origin story and its growing impact.
Through its mission “Creating Christmas without barriers,” OSS served over 2,000 families, including over 6,000 children, last year.
Honors College Student Council (HCSC) President Trenton Schroering attended the event and partnered with OSS to identify a critical need for canned chicken to help feed the families seeking assistance this holiday season. Each OSS food box provides all the ingredients a family needs for a hearty dinner and breakfast – just add water.
Schroering said, “With Christmas being a time of gratitude, to celebrate and cherish those you love, HCSC wanted to do a Christmas Drive to give back to the Lexington community we hold so dear. OSS suggested that we do a canned chicken drive, with the lofty and ambitious goal of 1000 cans before December 4th—I believed in our campus too much to say we couldn't do it.”
Director of College Life Libby Hannon added, “We are very grateful to Operation Secret Santa for speaking with our students regarding non-profit work, and we wanted to give back. Our Honors College Student Council has spearheaded the effort to collect the chicken cans, as OSS shared that chicken is one of the most difficult ingredients to source. We hope this drive will allow us to fill in those gaps and support the mission of OSS in bringing joy to the greater central Kentucky community.”
To help motivate all UK students to donate by December 4, the HCSC plans to award a prize to the student who secures the most donations. Students may contribute a 12.5-oz can of chicken or $5 (which covers canned chicken for one family). When donating via Venmo or Zeffy, please label donations “UK drive.”
Collection bins are located in the Lewis Honors College, Champion’s Kitchen, and The 90, with more locations to come. Learn more or make a donation at https://linktr.ee/operationsecretsantalex.
Schroering emphasized the power of individual impact. “Every single one of these cans supports a family, can make a world of difference come Christmastime. Every single donation means something, can mean everything to someone struggling to make ends meet.”