Students from Daniel Boone High School stand with some of the food they collected for the Student Food Drive.
(Tony Duncan / Johnson City Press)

By Sue Guinn Legg
Press Staff Writer
slegg@johnsoncitypress.com

High schools in eight area counties wrapped up their second annual Student Food Drive for Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee Tuesday, delivering a total of 94,556 pounds of donated food and breaking their own record for the largest food drive ever conducted for the regional food bank.

In addition to gathering 8,000 pounds more than more than the 86,384 pounds of food collected last year, the students also claimed more than $7,000 in cash prizes for their schools.

First-place finishers claiming $500 cash awards in each of the three divisions of the competition were Daniel Boone High School in the large school enrollment category with a collection of 7.28 pounds of food per student, North Greene High School in the mid-size enrollment division with 23.4 pounds per student and Providence Academy in the small enrollment division with 42.48 pounds of food collected per student.

Second-place awards of $250 each went to David Crockett High School in the large enrollment category with 4.01 pounds of food per student, West Greene High School in the mid-size enrollment category with 5.83 pounds per student and University School in the small enrollment division with 36.33 pounds per student.

Prizes of $500 and $250 for two Most Improved Schools with the largest increases over their collection last year went to Tri-Cities Christian Schools and University School respectively. A $250 prize for Most Creative Student Food Drive Event went to Sullivan North High School for its daily competition between all five grades and special education classes capped off with a final day food shopping buggy caravan of donations through the high school.

Each participating school came away $125 prize for taking part in the food drive's kickoff on Sept. 30 and another $125 for attending Tuesday night's awards party at the food bank.

"This was a our largest food drive this year. It surpassed any other drive we do. It's a new record which is incredible," Second Harvest Food Bank Director Rhonda Chafin said.

An initiative of the Feeding America network of Second Harvest food banks with cash prizes for their schools donated by both local and national sponsors, the Student Food Drive was launched nationally last year to empower students through community service. Chafin said she told the students, "This was just the beginning of them getting involved and helping their communities throughout their lives. And that was key."

Scott Kinney, food procurement director and Student Food Drive coordinator for the local food bank, noted that of 21 regional food banks that took part in this year's Student Food Drive, Second Harvest of Northeast Tennessee was the only regional food bank to report an increase in the amount of food collected last year.

The boost the drive gave to the food bank's efforts to meet this year's increased need for food among residents of the eight counties of Northeast Tennessee came an as added bonus. All the food collected by the students will be passed along at no cost to 200 area pantries, public kitchens and feeding agencies assisted by the regional food bank and on to an estimated 30,000 area Northeast Tennessee residents assisted monthly by those agencies.

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