It was hats off to the elementary students who kept their hats on for the first day of the food drives at John W. Decas Elementary and Minot Forest schools Friday.

Food drive coordinator and Decas Elementary physical education teacher Deanna Semple said it was the fourth year of the food drive, and that the hats were a little “incentive” for children to participate.

“We always have to take our hats off when we enter the building, but they get to wear their hats all day in school [today],” Semple said. “Some of them have sports hats, funny hats, all kinds.”

Semple worked at Minot Forest Elementary for her first two years in Wareham, and said she and another educator thought up the idea, in light of the rush of the holiday season.

“The food pantries get depleted this time of year, so at the end of November, it would be a good idea to have this giant food drive,” Semple said.

Semple said Decas Elementary collected 22 boxes of food, while Minot collected 10 boxes. The food collected is delivered to St. Patrick’s Church and Damien’s Food Pantry at the end of November.

Though all students are encouraged to bring in food, Semple said some of the students come from families who will be going to the pantry and the church themselves later that year.

“I try to be sensitive to that, and say, ‘Only do what you can share,’” Semple said. “Families have a hard time, during this time of the winter. If they can spare it, send something in. … They can wear their hat either way.”

In light of this, she tries “to get [the students] to understand empathy for people who need it.”

“I don’t want them to just think, ‘Hey, I am going to bring in a can of food, and get to wear a hat,’” Semple said. “I say, ‘This time of year, some people need more help than others.’ … It’s trying to get them thinking about helping other people, and how … you feel good inside when you do something nice for somebody else.”