Foodathon Nets 4,000 Pounds
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
During the Foodathon Family Night at the school, Harrison teachers and staff played basketball against Leesburg staff and teachers. Cost to get in to watch the game was just two canned food items. The food will be a part of WRSW 107.3's and Willie 103.5's Foodathon for Combined Community Services.[[In-content Ad]]The 36-hour Foodathon was 6 a.m. Tuesday to 6 p.m. Wednesday. The food collected at Thursday night's basketball game added about an additional 4,000 pounds to the collection.
This morning, WRSW General Manager Pat Brown said they are still counting all the food from the Foodathon. However, they also collected $19,000 in monetary donations. Brown said this was their best year for the Foodathon so far.
"One of our biggest supporters of the Foodathon was Embarq," Brown said. "They're a big, big part."
Besides the basketball game, each person who contributed food items also received raffle tickets. The tickets were then drawn for prizes that ranged from CDs and DVDs to tickets to an I.U. basketball game, a Notre Dame football game and a "Hannah Montana" concert in Indianapolis.
Hannah Montana is a children's television series on the Disney Channel. The series focuses on Miley Stewart (played by Miley Cyrus), who lives a double life as an average teenage girl at school during the day and a famous pop singer, Hannah Montana, at night, concealing her real identity from the public other than her close friends and family.
According to an Indianapolis Star story, the asking price for a second-row ticket to the "Hannah Montana" concert is $1,840, with individual balcony seats in the neighborhood of $150. These tickets originally were sold for $56 and $26.
Harrison student Bailey Hammel won the "Hannah Montana" tickets.
Brown said some of the other areas businesses donating items for the raffle included Rock Bottom, Penguin Point, Applebee's, Conference & Travel and more.
Also, anyone who attends Saturday's Warsaw Girls Basketball game at the Warsaw Community High School Tiger Den and gives two canned food items will get in free. Warsaw plays against Crown Point.
The Foodathon Family Night and basketball game Thursday night all started more than a year ago.
Randy Polston, Harrison Elementary School principal, said that during the 2006-07 school year, Leesburg teachers Nate Polston and Jason Roler wanted to have the Leesburg teachers play the Harrison teachers at Leesburg for a fundraiser. They promised to return the favor.
Polston said as he was trying to get an event scheduled for this year, it hit him that the week he was thinking about also was the same week as the Foodathon. The Leesburg teachers agreed that the basketball game would be a perfect opportunity to collect food items for CCS.
The day that was decided, CCS Director of Client Assistance Peggi Lisenbee-Wright called Polston and asked him if Harrison wanted to help CCS again to collect food items. When Polston told Lisenbee-Wright of the basketball game, she got excited.
Brown was contacted, and he thought the idea was fantastic, Polston said. For the grand prize drawing, Brown got a hold of the "Hannah Montana" tickets.
Polston said one Harrison parent in particular was instrumental in getting many of the other prizes. Heather Wade contacted local businesses and told them what was being planned. The businesses got behind it.
"It's all about the community," said Polston, "teaching the kids a great lesson about giving."
During the Foodathon Family Night at the school, Harrison teachers and staff played basketball against Leesburg staff and teachers. Cost to get in to watch the game was just two canned food items. The food will be a part of WRSW 107.3's and Willie 103.5's Foodathon for Combined Community Services.[[In-content Ad]]The 36-hour Foodathon was 6 a.m. Tuesday to 6 p.m. Wednesday. The food collected at Thursday night's basketball game added about an additional 4,000 pounds to the collection.
This morning, WRSW General Manager Pat Brown said they are still counting all the food from the Foodathon. However, they also collected $19,000 in monetary donations. Brown said this was their best year for the Foodathon so far.
"One of our biggest supporters of the Foodathon was Embarq," Brown said. "They're a big, big part."
Besides the basketball game, each person who contributed food items also received raffle tickets. The tickets were then drawn for prizes that ranged from CDs and DVDs to tickets to an I.U. basketball game, a Notre Dame football game and a "Hannah Montana" concert in Indianapolis.
Hannah Montana is a children's television series on the Disney Channel. The series focuses on Miley Stewart (played by Miley Cyrus), who lives a double life as an average teenage girl at school during the day and a famous pop singer, Hannah Montana, at night, concealing her real identity from the public other than her close friends and family.
According to an Indianapolis Star story, the asking price for a second-row ticket to the "Hannah Montana" concert is $1,840, with individual balcony seats in the neighborhood of $150. These tickets originally were sold for $56 and $26.
Harrison student Bailey Hammel won the "Hannah Montana" tickets.
Brown said some of the other areas businesses donating items for the raffle included Rock Bottom, Penguin Point, Applebee's, Conference & Travel and more.
Also, anyone who attends Saturday's Warsaw Girls Basketball game at the Warsaw Community High School Tiger Den and gives two canned food items will get in free. Warsaw plays against Crown Point.
The Foodathon Family Night and basketball game Thursday night all started more than a year ago.
Randy Polston, Harrison Elementary School principal, said that during the 2006-07 school year, Leesburg teachers Nate Polston and Jason Roler wanted to have the Leesburg teachers play the Harrison teachers at Leesburg for a fundraiser. They promised to return the favor.
Polston said as he was trying to get an event scheduled for this year, it hit him that the week he was thinking about also was the same week as the Foodathon. The Leesburg teachers agreed that the basketball game would be a perfect opportunity to collect food items for CCS.
The day that was decided, CCS Director of Client Assistance Peggi Lisenbee-Wright called Polston and asked him if Harrison wanted to help CCS again to collect food items. When Polston told Lisenbee-Wright of the basketball game, she got excited.
Brown was contacted, and he thought the idea was fantastic, Polston said. For the grand prize drawing, Brown got a hold of the "Hannah Montana" tickets.
Polston said one Harrison parent in particular was instrumental in getting many of the other prizes. Heather Wade contacted local businesses and told them what was being planned. The businesses got behind it.
"It's all about the community," said Polston, "teaching the kids a great lesson about giving."
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