La Voz

Media Credit: Asif Ahmed Cans are placed in the back of the auto tech facility before being loaded onto four different trucks.

The De Anza College Auto Tech club collected over a whopping 8,000 cans for the yearly school wide can drive.

The canned food drive has become a tradition for the Auto Tech club beginning roughly twenty years ago.

Initially, an activity to bring awareness of the club, collecting cans has become a regular activity to break the ice with new students and members involved.

More importantly, it is a matter of pride for the group. It is a substantiated pride considering that more cans originate here than the entire campus.

"Everyone knows everyone, its really fun to see the enthusiasm of the students during the food drive," said Michael Brandt, executive head of automotive technology. Friendly competition between students takes place as the club is divided to see who can produce the most cans.

The group that brings more cans gets first dibs at a celebratory pizza party. The total number of cans brought increases steadily year after year.

The planning occurs in late September when the fall quarter begins. The method of gathering cans occurs in numerous ways. Every student brings in roughly five dollars for cans and the club matches it.

The club also matches the number of cans brought in. Students either bring in cans or look for donations. They go out to the community including businesses and friends.

However, this year donation sources included the Internet.

A good proportion of this years' stash came from chat rooms. When the drive officially ended, the cans were carted off in four trucks.

They were taken to the Cupertino Community Services where the maximum number of cans they can hold are kept. The rest is taken to a storage facility that Cupertino Community Services can access throughout the year.

De Anza's Inter Club Council facilitates similiar food and goods drives throughout the year.

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