Hunger Heroes School Challenge

Your School Can Make A Difference!

The Hunger Hero School Challenge is a fun and engaging way for students to fight hunger in our community.

Every day, 756,000 meals are missed in southeast Michigan; half of these meals are missed by children and seniors.

Your school can make a big difference for hungry neighbors. By pledging to collect five cans (or other nonperishable food items) per student, each student can feed one person for one day. Or, provide a day’s worth of food with just $1!

Each month, schools will participate in a friendly competition to provide the most meals per student. Top schools will win pizza parties, prizes from the Plymouth Whalers Hockey Organization (like game tickets, drive-in movie tickets and private skating parties), and a chance to win a live performance by rock band Royal Hoax at your school.

For more information contact Cara Rayner, Food and Fund Drive Coordinator, crayner@gcfb.org, 866-453-2637, ext. 406.

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Gleaners Can Provide

• A Food Drive Kit with lots of helpful hints on how to make your food drive a success
• A speaker to come to your school and talk to your students about Gleaners and the importance of having access to healthy food
• Boxes, posters and a video on hunger in our community
• Web site links to educational materials on hunger and nutrition to be used in the classroom
• Opportunities for groups and individuals to volunteer at one of our five distribution centers
• “I FED SOMEONE TODAY” stickers for students

 

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Recognition

• Every school will receive a certificate of recognition and be listed on Gleaners’ Web site.
• Each month, the school that has the most meals per student will win up to $500 worth of pizza and a Plymouth Whalers prize package.
• The overall winner for the school year (September – May) will win an on-campus, hour-long concert from Royal Hoax!

 

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Getting Started

• Sign up here.
• Recruit Your Team: Do you have a leadership team (PTA, Student Council, Interact, National Honor Society, etc.)? Get them involved so they can help organize and promote your food drive.
• Create a Timeline: Schedule your drive, get materials, educate your committee, choose the length of the food drive, identify collections sites and divide up tasks. Consider holding a food drive in non-holiday months when donated food is in short supply.  
• Set Your Goals: Set them high at 1,000 lbs or more. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to get there!
  One canned food item or dried box of food = 1 pound.
  One dollar = 4 pounds.
• Promote the Food Drive: Put up posters or flyers in high traffic areas, send e-mails and include information about your drive in newsletters and morning announcements. Use our Hunger Heroes slogan or develop your own. Increase awareness on hunger and nutrition in your school.
• Remind and Excite Participants: Whether your food drive is 4 or 14 days, you need to keep the momentum going. Update students on the drive’s progress. Create a thermometer to track it visually. Provide an in-school incentive for students to bring food, such as allowing them to wear hats, no homework for a night, or try to fill the Principal’s office!
• Celebrate a Successful Food Drive: Be sure to communicate back to your school how much food and how many meals were collected, and celebrate the success!

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Downloads

Food Drive Kit Middle and High Schools (pdf) 
Food Drive Kit Elementary Schools (pdf)
Hunger Heroes School Challenge Brochure (pdf)

High Schools are encouraged to join our High School Food Fight in February. 
Learn more here →