ST. LOUIS — Oct. 25 marks the end of Tackle Hunger III, the St. Louis-area high school football collection effort for Operation Food Search. It’s all made possible by Neighbors Credit Union.
Wednesday, 5 On Your Side traveled to Illinois for Columbia High School, last year’s Tackle Hunger champion. Columbia is taking on Jerseyville this week.
The Columbia Student Council took up the cause, and students and staff reached out to the Columbia community on social media. They put collection bins out for parent-teacher conferences, Wednesday evening, and at the volleyball game against Freeburg, Thursday.
Senior Logan Hicks said, “Since last year was so great, with such a great turn-out, we hope to do close to the same thing, this year. Winning that was definitely a feel-good moment. That would be great, along with beating Jerseyville.”
5 On Your Side traveled to Jerseyville on Thursday.
There, students and staff used donated food items to barricade Mrs. Thurston’s classroom door, leaving her a note explaining she had been “canned.”
The football team and the math department are part of the Jerseyville collection effort.
Senior Jaxon Brunaugh said, “We barricaded Miss Thurston's door. I don't really know who did it.”
Brunaugh did name a couple staff members he thought may have been behind the effort.
“They barricaded her door, so she's locked out because there's so many cans donated.”
All football season long, Operation Food Search has picked-up donated items at the two competing schools and weighed them, every Friday.
The results are announced Friday night at 10 p.m., on “5 On Your Sideline.”
Our thanks to the 19 St. Louis-area school districts who participated in Tackle Hunger this year. And thanks to Neighbors Credit Union, who made it all possible.