Students fill a football field with food for food banks

Hundreds of New Jersey students collected more than a quarter of a million pounds of food in a week. Yellow donation bags covered Howell High School’s football field from one end zone to the other.

It was the second “100-Yard Food Drive Challenge” run by the nonprofit Dermer Dreams and the largest collection in its history. Students went door to door in their neighbourhoods, joined by other schools, businesses, families and volunteers. The school football team helped load the bags onto trucks, and the food is now with 30 food banks across the state.

The organisers created the programme after noticing that high-school students were looking for places to complete their required community service hours, and turned those hours into help for families. The Costa Blanca also has food banks and charity kitchens run by councils and Cáritas; before the holidays they especially need long-life food.