MOSES LAKE — Students at Moses Lake High School are locked in competition – to collect the greatest number of cans, boxes or bags of non-perishable food. The annual food drive at MLHS will continue through the end of this week.

The food collected will be donated to the Moses Lake Food Bank, for distribution in Christmas baskets – and distribution after Christmas, since people need food year-round.

The goal, said MLHS teacher Amy Utter, who’s in charge of the food drive, is 8,000 cans, boxes and bags. The food drive is two weeks long.

“All the third period classes are competing against each other.” Teachers, classes and clubs always have a few side competitions, too.

The MLHS National Honor Society chapter conducted a food drive, Utter said, and families that attended the school’s Holiday Festival were asked to donate non-perishable food. Classes are working on their own projects, and teachers have been known to stockpile – or hoard – their class contribution until the last day.

The students are also taking donations, which can be left at the MLHS office. “Any of those donations are very welcome.”

There’s a prize, of course. The winning class receives breakfast cooked by the ASB leadership. It’s a big enough deal, and enough kids show up, that one year the ASB tripped a breaker with all the griddles needed to cook pancakes.

The food drive is a tradition at MLHS. “We kind of start around Halloween,” Utter said. It’s a way for the students to give back to the community, and support people in the community the way the community supports the high school.

The food will be delivered Dec. 19, somehow. The high school students have used a caravan of their own trucks, and sometimes district officials have allowed the use of a school bus. A bus has its challenges – the cans roll under the seats, Utter said.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].