Silverton High School students trick-or-treating on Halloween night are hoping they don’t get any candy.
Instead, they are setting their sights on something with a little more nutritional substance – nonperishable food such as canned fruits and vegetables, soups, beans, tomato sauce, rice and pasta.
Seniors Garrison Schmidt and Christi Zollner invite high school students to meet at 5 p.m. Oct. 31 at Silverton High School and go trick-or-treating from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
Schmidt and Zollner are organizing the event for their senior project. The food collected will go to the local food bank, Silverton Area Community Aid.
The pair also encourage the public to bring canned food items to the Silverton High School football game against Woodburn High School that evening. The game begins at 7 p.m.
Anyone who brings canned food will receive a $1 off their admission.
On a last minute whim, Schmidt organized a trick-or-treating for canned food last Halloween. This year, he is working to make the event official.
The students plan to visit the Ike Mooney, Coolidge-McClaine, Park Terrace and Mountain High neighborhoods along with downtown businesses on Halloween night.
“We are doing this because Halloween feels like a gimme, gimme holiday,” Zollner said. “We wanted to find something positive for high school students to do on Halloween and then go to the football game after trick-or-treating.”
Zollner and Schmidt said their motto for the event is “Make it Happen.” From a personal standpoint, they both said they see the need for young people to get involved in their community.
“Too often, people think the government needs to take care of us,” Zollner said. “I think we need to work in our community to make things happen.”
“I think the farther we go along into the future that the government and the older generations are going to do less and less,” Schmidt added. “I think it’s time for younger people to step up and do things.”
For information on trick-or-treating, call Christi Zollner at 541-968-7810 or Garrison Schmidt at 503-779-4949.
