By BRIAN WALKER

Staff Writer

POST FALLS — Third-grader Julieanna Carla's food donation for the 12th annual K-5 Food Drive Challenge came with an extra lift.

"I send this food with a little prayer that things get better," the Ponderosa Elementary student said in her "Lend a Helping Hand" essay that's part of the effort that helps sustain the Post Falls Food Bank shelves over the summer when families' grocery bills typically climb.

"I hope my donation gives some relief to a family that is struggling. I've never been out of food, but our family has had rough times."

First-grader Gavin Goetz added: "We don't want people to go hungry."

Mark Jones, the food drive's organizer, estimates that a total of more than 10,000 pounds of food for the nonprofit has been collected over the past two weeks by students at Post Falls' six elementary schools and the Frederick Post Kindercenter.

Since the drive started, more than 200,000 pounds has been collected.

Jones said the efforts of students, staff and businesses that support the drive for folks who need a hand is heartwarming. Along the way, lessons about helping others through spirited skits, essays and coloring contests are incorporated in the classrooms.

"This is an important event because it carries the food bank through the summer," said Warren Merritt, a food bank board member who also served as a judge of the food drive's spirit contest.

The K-5 drive is the culmination of food drives that occur in the Post Falls School District throughout the school year. The high school drive is during Spirit Week in the fall, while the middle schools' "Souper Bowl" drive is around the Super Bowl.

"We scatter them out throughout the year," Jones said, adding that New Vision High students are also involved by picking up the donations from the schools and delivering them to the food bank.

Four schools participated in the spirit contest of the K-5 drive with the Frederick Post Kindercenter winning with its "Help Stop Hunger One Kid at a Time" theme. Prairie View had a Western theme that included a gun fight skit. Mullan Trail's focus was on setting goals and, since the students reached them, they'll be rewarded with a "water works extravaganza" by Kootenai County Fire and Rescue.

Ponderosa Principal Scott Ross said supporting families in need, including many who have students in Post Falls schools, over the summer is critical.

"We've got kids ourselves, and our grocery bill almost doubles in the summer," he said.

Ross said when his students added their handprints to the tree and railings in the school during the food drive that left a lasting impression on their efforts.

"When your handprint is on the tree, that provides some ownership," he said.