BCPS, local food pantries score big with annual food drive

As the country and the world counted down to Super Bowl LVIII and wondered if Taylor Swift would touch down from her Tokyo concert in time to watch her boyfriend’s team repeat as champions, our schools were busy tackling hunger. The 10th Annual BCPS Souperintendent’s Souper Bowl Canned-Food Drive scored big this year by helping five local food pantries restock their shelves with canned goods and nonperishables. Our students and staff collected 32,000 pounds of food, which is equivalent to the combined weight of 130 NFL players. 

Burke County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Mike Swan said, “I am proud of how our school family rallied together in the spirit of giving to not only help those facing food insecurity, but also to learn life lessons on being servant leaders and giving back. The generosity of our schools and our communities continues to amaze me. I love watching our principals be the biggest cheerleaders in this campaign every year and find creative ways to encourage giving.”

While not touted as a competition between schools, BCPS principals take the opportunity each year to set high goals and challenge their students and staff to fill collection barrels to the brim. As the Kansas City Chiefs were repeat winners in this year’s Super Bowl, Ray Childers Elementary School is the repeat top collector in the Souperintendent’s Souper Bowl Canned-Food Drive. Also on the leaderboard are Mountain View and Valdese elementary schools. As incentives to bring in canned goods, principals promised extracurriculars such as getting on top of the roof, taking a pie in the face or adding time to recess. 

In its 10 year history (minus a year off for COVID) the district-wide canned food drive has collected a little more than 269,000 total pounds of food for the community. The five agencies who receive the donations are Burke United Christian Ministries, Glen Alpine United Methodist Church, East Burke Christian Ministries, Abernethy Memorial United Methodist Church in Rutherford College and East Burke High School’s own food pantry.
 
Each year, the canned-food drive starts the week after students return from winter break and ends the week after the Super Bowl. As we look ahead to Super Bowl LIV and the 11th Annual Souperintendent’s Souper Bowl Canned-Food Drive, it’s not too early to wonder if the Chiefs will three-peat, if the Swifties will get to watch Taylor perform at halftime, or if BCPS will surpass the 300,000 pounds of collected food mark.  

Swan said, “I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who contributed to another successful food drive that will no doubt make a big difference in our community.