JCHS holding homecoming food drive

The Jay County High School Patriots are asking the community to support both the football team and the Helping Hand Food Bank this week with a food drive.

"The theme this year is 'Racing to a Victory: Shake and Bake Patriots,'" said homecoming chair Caitlin Ruchgy this morning. "To tie in with our theme we want to do 'Racing Against Hunger.'"

The food bank has seen increased demand this year, making the need for donations greater than ever. The high school is hoping to capitalize on the big community turnouts for its three homecoming events to help bolster the shelves.

"We always try to do canned food drives and they always flop," Ruchgy said of the high school's past efforts, "So we thought if we got the community involved it would help."

The student council is using a three-pronged attack to gather donations with collections at Wednesday's Spirit Night and the parade and game on Friday.

"For Spirit Night, we made the tickets $3 and $1 from every ticket will be donated to the food bank," Ruchgy said. "We'll also have a collection box for the public to bring canned food items." Spirit night activities, including powder puff football, volleyball and tug-of-war, begin at 6 p.m.

At Friday's 5 p.m. parade, the student council will host a collection float, which will be near the front of the parade immediately following the racecars.

"We'll have people dressed up as canned food items," she said of the easy-to-spot helpers. "And the public can bring their donation to the parade if they're not going to the game."

The council is also asking all parade entrants and participants to bring at least one item to donate.

Lastly, there will also be a collection box at the gate for the 7:30 p.m. game against the Muncie Southside Rebels for any last minute donations.

The freshman class is also holding its own internal drive to support the food bank during the week.

Ruchgy said the homecoming goal is a modest $1,000 and 1,000 food items but she's "hoping to highly surpass that." People can donate non-perishable food items or cash.

"The student council is trying to do their part in bettering the community," Ruchgy said. "We hope that everyone comes out and supports the Patriots at the game on Friday."[[In-content Ad]]