ST. LOUIS — Oct. 18 brings an end to Week 8 of Tackle Hunger III, the St. Louis area high school football season collection effort for Operation Food Search.
The second-to-the-last week features Cardinal Ritter College Prep School versus De Smet High School.
At De Smet, students and staff held a pep rally on Wednesday, where the Spartan mascot tackled another young man wearing a t-shirt with “hunger” written on it. The mascot literally “tackled hunger.”
De Smet worked all week collecting food. Operation Food Search officials said Tackle Hunger was their most successful collection event last year.
Neighbors Credit Union makes the whole program possible.
De Smet head football coach John Merritt commissioned students.
“We're going to tackle hunger,” he said. “And listen, you can get that old can of corn out of the bottom of your pantry at home and bring it and that's great. We need that. But we also need some other stuff, you know? We need the tuna, we need the chicken, we need the beef stew. We need all the protein.”
Student Jack Trout said, “I'm sure Cardinal Ritter is doing the same thing as us. They had a pep rally; we had a pep rally. We're just getting ready. We're trying to collect as much food as we can for Tackle Hunger.”
At Cardinal Ritter on Thursday, there were Operation Food Search barrels lined up outside and in the front lobby. Student representatives said they promoted Tackle Hunger, reached out to their alumni and got the volleyball team involved Wednesday night. They point out the effort coincides with the school’s mission: “Triple thrust of academic excellence, faith development and leadership development.”
Senior Carson Boyd said, “It’s all about getting the Ritter family together for a great cause, you know - feeding the hungry."
Senior Antonio Parker added, “And we're hoping that we can really see a change and make a change in the community around us.”
For Tackle Hunger, Operation Food Search officials pick up donated items at the two competing schools and weigh them each Friday. 5 On Your Side produces stories about the schools’ collection efforts, which air each Friday on “Today in St. Louis,” (4:30-7 a.m.). The results are announced on “5 On Your Sideline” during the 10 p.m. Sports segment.
While participating schools are not prepared to accept donated items at the Friday night football games, you can donate at any Neighbors Credit Union location.
Oct. 25 marks the end of Week 9 and the end of Tackle Hunger III. For that, we return to Illinois, with Columbia High School competing against Jerseyville High School.