Elizabethton High School students collected 2,584 pounds of food to help feed the hungry in the area.
The school was also declared the winner of the Living Is Giving Food Drive contest hosted by WJHL and Hardee’s Restaurants.
During the contest, students from EHS, Daniel Boone, David Crockett and Greeneville high schools collected food in their classrooms and at select Hardee’s to see which school could collect the most pounds per student for Second Harvest Food Bank.
The schools participating collected totals ranging from 964 to 3,116 pounds of food for a final total of 8,742 pounds of food to go to Second Harvest Food Bank. With 830 students and 2,584 pounds of food, EHS won the contest by collecting 3.11 pounds of food per student.
The collection efforts at EHS were led by the Student Government Association. SGA advisor Debbie Gouge said the goal was to collect at least two pounds of food per student in the school.
“We knocked that out of the water,” she said.
Second Harvest Food Bank Community Relations Director Kathy Smith said for each pound of food collect one meal was distributed back into the community.
“This time of year, we do see our greatest need,” Smith said. “A large food drive like this goes a long way to help those in need.”
EHS Student Government President Hunter Greene said EHS’s strategy was to get as many people interested as possible.
“We wanted to make it a competition between classes,” Greene said. “We also wanted the community to be involved so we could collect more food. We did collection at our basketball game with Science Hill. That is one of our biggest games so I think that helped.”
Greene said the final total was an unexpected surprise.
“We didn’t know how much we would get, but we are thankful we were able to get that much,” Greene said.
For their win, EHS was awarded a $250 gift card to be used for the school. a Krispee Kreme donut breakfast for the entire school and a Hardee’s lunch for Sara Hardin’s first-period class, which was the class that collected the most food.
“They were the smallest class with only 11 students,” Gouge said.
Gouge said the gift card would be used for EHS’s Project Angel Child. The project buys coats, shoes and gifts for students in need in the school.
“These are students that might not have as much at Christmas,” Gouge said. “It is totally anonymous and the students do all the shopping for their fellow students. It is really a great program.”