Small but Mighty Team of Students Break Food Collection Record in 9th Annual Carolinas Student Hunger Drive

Small but Mighty Team of Students Break Food Collection Record in 9th Annual Carolinas Student Hunger Drive

Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina CEO Kay Carter likes surprises. Especially, the one she received this week that will benefit thousands of hungry families across the 19 counties the food bank serves in the greater Charlotte, N.C., region.

Nine area high school teams collected more than 329,000 pounds of non-perishable food during the six-week 9th Annual Carolinas Student Hunger Drive campaign, breaking the record for the most food collected in the last nine years.

“I must say, even though we have three less schools participating this year, you are a small but mighty team,” Kay told more than 100 students during the campaign’s final event this week. The school that won Division 1 was Providence High School located in Charlotte. The Division II winner was Cabarrus Early College of Technology in Concord, N.C.

“Over the past six weeks, you have helped your neighbors in need by collecting healthy, nutritious meals for hungry families throughout the Charlotte market,” said Pat Eyer, a local Food Lion retail leader in the Charlotte area. “Through our philanthropic hunger relief platform, Food Lion Feeds, and our partnership with 30 food banks, we support hunger-relief on a hyper-local level in the 10 states we have stores. And tonight, we are excited to hear about the hundreds of thousands of pounds of food you worked hard to collect during this year’s event.”

The food will be immediately distributed to thousands of families throughout the food bank’s 19-county service territory, which includes 14 counties in North Carolina and five in South Carolina.

Eyer also awarded student Alex Donatelli with the Food Lion Feeds Hunger Hero Award, which recognized Donatelli for going above and beyond in planning, executing and promoting the mission of the Carolinas Student Hunger Drive. She received a $500 scholarship and a certificate recognizing her hard work.