Photos courtesy of Hoover Helps
Students from Hoover and Spain Park high schools encourage people to donate to the Hoover Helps nonprofit, which battles food insecurity experienced by children in Hoover.
The Spain Park Jags are looking to beat the Hoover Bucs on the football field this Friday night, and the Bucs are looking to beat the Jags, but both schools are joining together to beat hunger.
The two schools are once again in a friendly competition to see who can raise the most money for the Hoover Helps nonprofit that works with companies and faith-based organizations to provide food and meet needs for needy children in Hoover.
It’s the 2023 Hunger Challenge. Fans from both schools have an opportunity this week to give donations to Hoover Helps and designate for which school they are giving the donation.
Spain Park is trying to claim victory for the fifth year in a row. The Jags were ahead in the competition as of Wednesday, but the competition doesn’t end until Friday night, said Debbie Mar, a board member for Hoover Helps.
Last year’s Hunger Challenge raised more than $19,000, with Spain Park fans giving $11,330 and Hoover fans giving $7,679.
Fans can go ahead and make their donations by going to the hooverhelps.org website, texting hooverhelps to 56651 or giving through venmo @hooverhelps. People are encouraged to indicate for which school they are donating.
The nonprofit also will have tables set up for both the Bucs and the Jags at the main entrance to Friday night’s football game at Jaguar Stadium for people to give cash or checks. The game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., but the tables should remain open for cash and check donations into the first quarter, Mar said.
“We look forward to the Hunger Challenge each year as a fundraiser but also as an opportunity to educate even more people on the mission of Hoover Helps,” Mar said. “When people realize their donations go right back into their community to help our children, the choice to support is an easy one to make.”
More than 500 children in Hoover have been identified as “food insecure,” and many more likely have not been identified, according to the Hoover Helps website.
Children who depend on free or reduced-priced meals at school because of their family’s income level may be at risk of hunger on weekends, holidays and over the summer when schools are closed.
“Food insecurity is devastating for children,” the organization says. “Not getting proper nutrition impacts a child’s physical and mental health. It’s associated with delayed development, poor academic performance, increased risk of chronic illness and behavioral problems. Children can’t concentrate in class and miss more school days due to illnesses.”
Hoover Helps partners with faith-based organizations and other entities to provide food for children to take home from school in their backpacks for the weekends and partners with the Neighborhood Bridges Hoover organization to meet other needs of children.
To find out more, go to hooverhelps.org.
