Sam Azevedo is more than just a football player at Othello High School. The senior plays linebacker for the state bound Huskies, but off the field is also involved in civic engagement collecting food for the WE Scare Hunger program.

On Friday, Nov. 3, he pulled his pickup into the Othello Food Bank parking lot and dropped off 850 pounds of canned goods, and dried and boxed food that took him an entire month to collect.

Sam had distributed collection boxes around town at various businesses and churches during the first week of October, and also had his truck parked at Huskie Stadium during home games so football fans could drop off donations.

“It’s time for giving — Christmas is near and I thought it would be a good idea to get the community together and bring in some food to the food bank,” Sam said. “I used to come here (to the food bank) and work when I was in the Boy Scouts — I haven’t done that for a long time so I thought it would be good to come back and do something nice.”

Sam said collecting the food was not part of a senior class project, but rather something he wanted to do to help other less fortunate than himself, adding his passion for doing so was instilled in him at a very young age.

“I was always raised like that. My parents were born in a pretty bad part of Portugal – didn’t’t have much growing up — and have always taught me to give to people who don’t have as much as we do.”

Sam’s mom Guiomar was at the food bank Friday grinning from ear-to-ear when he dropped off the truckload of food.

“Sam has a very big heart,” Guiomar said. “My husband and I are lucky to be his parents.”

Sam graduates from OHS next spring and is planning to attend Cal Poly.

“It’s tough to get in to Cal Poly, but I am doing everything I can to be accepted there. I want to major in Agriculture — take a program called BRAE – Bio-Resource and Agriculture Engineer.”

Sam said he would eventually return and make his home in Othello.

“I’d like to have some farm land up by my dad — I love it out there — love being on the farm and working with animals.”

WE Scare Hunger’s mantra is no one should have to go hungry. Visit WE.org/wescarehunger for more information.

The Othello Food Bank is open Monday, Tuesday and Friday from 1-3 p.m., and on the second Wednesday of the month, opens it doors exclusively for seniors 60 and up from 1-3 p.m.