Thursday morning, St. Patrick’s Catholic School in Perry wrapped up a week-long food drive, and with the help of Raccoon Valley Radio they donated nearly 700 items to the Perry Area Food Pantry.

Principal Kandice Roethler said they held an interschool competition to see which class could donate the most food per student, and with a late push of 142 items delivered at 7 a.m. Thursday, the 7th grade class took the victory with 29 items per student. Their prize is a popcorn party in January, and bragging rights for the next year. They also got the honor of loading up the 680 total items into the Big Red Radio, which delivered the items to the pantry.

Roethler said it was an exciting program, and she believes it was beneficial to the students to give them a sense of charity at this time of year. “We feel it’s important so that we can help them understand that there are individuals out there that have needs beyond our school, and to help them feel like they are giving back into the community. It’s really important that the community helps us so much with different fundraising items, that we should be giving back as well. We’re just excited to partner with the radio, and we hope to do it again in the future. It’s a great opportunity for our kids to give back!”

One final incentive for participating in the food drive was provided by Raccoon Valley Radio: tickets to the Iowa State – Texas Tech men’s basketball game in February, with those who donated food eligible for the prize drawing. The winner was the McDevitt family.