Pi Day Food Drive at North Catholic

Elizabeth Miller, Ministry Lead of Marianist Encounters at North Catholic High School, Cranberry Township, PA, shares about the Pi Day Food Drive held on March 14, 2025.

This year, when the Math Department decided how we wanted to celebrate Pi Day, we started thinking about how food (specifically pie) is used as a reward/celebration in math classes across the country on March 14th. After listening to the presentation about Marianist Encounters, we realized that even on the most local level, food insecurity is a real thing. Instead of celebrating with an abundance of food from our excess, we decided that instead of freely allowing our students to celebrate Pi Day with parties in math class, they could earn the privilege by contributing to a food drive for those less fortunate.

Our Focus:

From the Seven Commitments of the Global Compact on Education - Place the value and the dignity of the human person at the center of every formal and informal education process.

From the Seven Action Areas of the Laudato Si Action Platform - Respond to the Cry of the Poor and Support Local Communities

Math Department Initiative:

We decided that the best way to accomplish our goals was to work together as an entire department. Every math teacher was willing to collect and keep track of cans, allow a fun day for classes that achieved their goal, and contribute to the pie prize for the winning class.

Each student was asked to donate two cans (only cylindrical food was being collected to connect the project with the idea of Pi and circles). If a class had 90% participation in the food drive, they would earn the right to have a fun day in class on Pi Day. Students were encouraged to bring in even more than the minimum, as we also ran a contest to see which class could bring in the most food. The winning class earned a teacher-sponsored pie party for their class on Pi Day. This encouraged participation and limited the celebration food to only one classroom instead of consuming excess food/wasting it in all classrooms that day.

We chose to donate our collection to the Little Sisters of the Poor. They support people in our very own community who are hungry and in need.