On Tuesday night, Oct. 13, Hays High DECA and 26 other local organizations took nonperishable food donations from neighborhoods across Hays, Kansas, for the annual “Trick or Treat So Others Can Eat” drive. The collection is organized by the high school’s DECA club for the Community Assistance Center, the local nonprofit food pantry. Hays Post reported from the route and the center as volunteers collected, delivered and sorted what neighbors gave.
The official Visit Hays calendar listed the drive for 6 to 9 p.m. across Hays and identified Hays High DECA as its organizer and the Community Assistance Center as its beneficiary. The listing invited residents to leave items on a porch if they would be away or preferred not to answer the door. It also said volunteers would wear badges identifying their groups, so residents could tell who was collecting.
Hays Post reported that 27 organizations had assigned areas in the city. Girl Scout Troop 10088 walked door to door, explaining that it was collecting nonperishable food for the pantry. Other volunteers drove donations from walking groups back to the center. The report’s photographs show students unloading bags and boxes, residents handing over food, and volunteers bringing the collections inside. Hays Post did not report the collection’s final weight or item count. Photographs accompanying the report identified Fort Hays State University criminal-justice students among those delivering collected food to the center, and a local resident handing items to Girl Scout Troop 10088.
At the Community Assistance Center, volunteers went through the bags and sorted the individual items. Hays Post described people working along rows of tables to mark and organize cans and other goods. The sorted donations added to the pantry’s inventory. The center’s own history page says its pantry is replenished by food and cash donations and by two major countywide drives each year, with the October collection sponsored by Hays High DECA.
Theresa Hill, the center’s director, told Hays Post that the drive is the center’s largest food collection and that many local families depend on it. Hill linked the need to high food prices and said she hoped this collection would help hold the pantry over until the mail-carrier drive in May. She said an EMT collection was expected the following week, as far as she knew. Shaina Prough, the DECA adviser, said the club coordinates the event with participating groups and helps gather donations. Prough said the center helps people who may be working several jobs and still struggling to make ends meet.
Hays Post reported that the drive began in 1984 as a DECA community-service project created by Connie Haselhorst. The Community Assistance Center traces its own start to December 1983, when Ellis County residents created a distribution center for food, toys and other items for lower-income families at Christmas. The group adopted the CAC name in May 1984 and moved to its current Hays facility. The center says it relies on charitable contributions from the community.
The official event listing suggested canned fruits and vegetables, boxed meals, baby food and other nonperishable items. It also said residents could take food to the center if a collection team missed them. The calendar noted that cash could be given to volunteers or checks made payable to CAC. Hays Post reported that CAC serves Ellis County residents and uses household size and income when determining eligibility. CAC also says local clubs and organizations conduct smaller food drives throughout the year. The center also distributes clothing and household goods, according to its history page.
The official listing also gives a fallback: people whose homes were missed, including those living in rural areas, could bring food directly to CAC. Hill told Hays Post that donations were still being accepted at the center after the Oct. 13 route, and shared its hours of 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. This gave the neighborhood collection another path into the pantry for residents who were not reached door to door. Hays Post also listed Prough’s school contact for groups interested in volunteering in future years.
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