Teachers and students waiting to see if their efforts to dethrone last year’s food drive champion, social studies teacher Steve Foug, will have to wait a little longer; Special Day Class teacher Marco Dondero, the event’s organizer, is in the hospital with pneumonia. Though the actual number of pounds collected is yet to be determined, the amount of food collected is substantial. “It’s easily twice as much as the goal amount,” one of Dondero’s class assistants said.

He attributes the success to Foug, who brought needed attention to the food drive through his vocal and boastful antics. Foug even inspired two In Focus segments.

In response to the segments, photography teacher Margot Wixsom said, “It definitely woke me up.” To show her own dedication to the cause, she placed a “Beat Foug” sign in front of her class’s food. Wixsom has even brought in $100 worth of food to supplement her students’ collection.

English teacher Kaye Paugh, another serious challenger, recounted one of Foug’s attempts to intimidate the competition, when he came to mock her class’s efforts. “He’s come to our classes, goading us. He said, ‘Do you need any more cans?’” Paugh said.

The last day of the food drive was December 17, the deadline for classes to deliver their food to Dondero’s classroom.

Popular food items have been rice and canned foods because of their low cost to weight ratio. Checks made out to Second Harvest were also accepted, however, they were not encouraged. In the competition, a dollar was worth a pound of food. The YCS website points out that since a 50 pound bag of rice does not cost $50, it is wiser to buy food than to donate money, though the effort of lugging in food has discouraged some from bringing in actual food.

The food drive points, based on the amount of pounds donated, will be used to determine which fourth period class will win a pizza party.

After the food as been totaled and weighed, it will be sent to Second Harvest Food Bank, where it will be distributed among several agencies and distribution groups such as the Salvation Army, the Ecumenical Hunger Program, and the Urban Ministry of Palo Alto. Second Harvest also has its own programs which all serve low-income communities: Partners in Need, which serves Food Bank volunteers; Operation Brown Bag, which serves seniors; and Family Harvest, which serves families with dependent children. Last year, the Food Bank distributed 27 million pounds of food and currently serves an average of 163,500 individuals a month, according to Second Harvest. Of the total food distributed, about a third comes from community food drives such as the one at Paly.