Drive parlays food, cash into more cash

The Builders Club at Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy in Wheeling, West Virginia, has learned that collecting food and money for the underpriviledged reaps its own rewards, including more money. Partnering with the school’s Key Club and National Honor Society—and its sponsoring Wheeling Kiwanis club—the club collected food and money this past spring for the Catholic Charities Neighborhood Center.

The effort was part of the nationwide Feinstein Foundation Challenge to end hunger. Under the initiative, groups are encouraged to collect food and money to earn a portion of a US$1 million grant the foundation offers. This past year’s challenge raised more than $133 million. About $37,000 was raised for the Wheeling neighborhood center, which houses a soup kitchen and food pantry. As a result of the effort, the center also received about $450 from the foundation grant.

Becky Johnen, Builders Club and Key Club advisor, hopes others will join them in next year’s challenge. “We hope other groups will help us maximize the potential funding that will help the homeless and hungry in our area,” she says.

Schools and organizations throughout the United States are encouraged to participate in the annual Feinstein Foundation Challenge. You can get more information on the event by clicking here.