Operation Others provides food

More than 6,000 people had a Christmas meal thanks to the annual Operation Others food drive and efforts of students from the eight Omaha-area Catholic high schools. Working with Catholic Charities, students signed up 1,220 families to receive the donations. Students also planned fundraisers and food collections, and prepared, packaged and delivered the food Dec. 22.

Each school focused on gathering a particular food item. For example, students at Marian High School collected peanut butter and jelly; at Creighton Preparatory School, students collected canned chicken and tuna; and at Mercy High School, students brought in soup, corn and green beans. In addition, a collection day the Saturday before Thanksgiving netted about 800 turkeys brought to centers at Creighton Prep, V.J. and Angela Skutt Catholic High School and a local business.

The Juan Diego Center and Christ Child North enrolled about a third of the families who benefited, while students helped register the others during a call-in day in November.