When most students were using their Sunday to catch up on sleep, finish homework, or spend time with friends, many attended the third annual NHS Turkey Bowl to raise food for the local food pantry in preparation for Thanksgiving. Students organized themselves into teams to compete in a touch football tournament, but each player had to come prepared with ten cans of food for donation. NHS sponsor Julie May said, “It’s just a bunch of kids having fun on a Sunday playing some touch football and donating to the food pantry at the same time.”

“The food pantries are so low on food right now,” May said. The canned goods were donated to a local food pantry in Westmont, who was especially short on food for the holidays. “They opened up especially for us, and were so excited to get all the food,” May said.

However, Sunday was also about peers getting together and having fun before the holidays. “When I think of the Turkey Bowl, I think of togetherness and your classic Thanksgiving,” said senior player Liz Dusky, standing on the sidelines with her teammates ready to start another game. May said, “They are out there, and having fun, and people are excited.”

Between all the players who participated in the Turkey Bowl, an entire truckload of food was donated to the Westmont food pantry to give to the needy over the Thanksgiving holiday, and it brought the students together to celebrate the holidays. Senior Olivia Soberaj said, “Let’s be honest: every girl loves playing some football in the middle of November.”

The Turkey Bowl was a success overall, and though there wasn’t a specific goal to be met for the amount of food collected, the total amount of donations between all the players was extremely significant, though May said, “Anything that we could get and give is huge.”