Launch Team Robotics celebrated Thanksgiving by donating almost 400 pounds of food to St. Mary’s Food Bank.

As explained in an email from Stephen Robertson, the team of high school students, including some from Paradise Valley, collected 395 pounds of non-perishable food for the food bank’s 17th Annual Super Saturday Turkey Drive held on Nov. 19. In addition to the food donated, the team also gifted a $300 check.

With the food bank’s need near a record high and donations near a record low, the team, based in the west Valley, wanted to make sure its students were giving back to the community and knew that the program is about “more than robots,” Robertson detailed.

According to the team’s website, they began competing in robotics competitions in 2017. Launch Team Robotics’s mission, aside from building “cool” robots, is to help the community and provide access to STEM for students who would otherwise not have the opportunity.