Brotherly Love: Students Hold Food Fight For Philabundance

By Ukee Washington

MEDIA, Pa. (CBS) – At Penncrest High School in Media, a pep rally to rival any football game is being held. The students are getting ready for The Great Food Fight, and there are 22 schools competing to collect food for Philabundance. The winning schools get prizes of up to $10,000 from Shire Pharmaceuticals.

"We also love the idea of having high school kids get engaged in such a meaningful way in their community as well," said Matt Cabrey of Shire Pharmaceuticals.

The fight started early with a mascot dance-off. The prize was a head start of 100 pounds of food, and the Center for Arts and Technology's Pickering Campus won.

"I commend the other mascots on trying to up my dance moves, but I pulled it off!" said Spoken Wright, who played the winning mascot.

But that's just a start. The goal is 100 tons of food in two weeks, enough for 200,000 meals.

How do the students do it? Marianne Lynch, Philabundance's Development Director, said Penncrest High "came up with the Can Man, and apparently he ran the halls and collected cans every day!"

Penncrest junior Zac Schauerman, 17, said, "Last year, we did this thing called 'Stop the Bop,' where we played Hanson's 'MMMBop' in the hallways, and then we said, 'We're not going to stop until we get to a thousand dollars.'"

When it comes to feeding the hungry, everybody is a winner every time.

The Great Food Fight to benefit Philabundance officially kicks off on Wednesday, February 15 and goes until March 2.

For more information on Philabundance, visit the website.