Press Release #15/Nov. 29, 2021
More than two dozen school communities in Dearborn Public Schools came together the week before Thanksgiving to collect thousands of food items to donate to area charities.
Twenty nine schools participated in the seventh annual Battle Against Hunger from Nov. 15 to 19. In all, more than 55,000 food items were collected and more than $3,700 in monetary donations. The food was given to Zaman International. Monetary donations will be split between the Amity Foundation and Gleaners Food Bank. For the sake of counting, $1 in donations was counted as two food items.
This year marked the highest number of Dearborn Public Schools participating in the Battle Against Hunger.
The Battle began in 2015 as a friendly off-field competition between rivals Dearborn and Fordson high schools. Edsel Ford High School later joined the food drive, and it was opened for the district’s elementary and middle schools to participate.
Initially, the event was a competition between schools to see who could collect the most non-perishable food and money. Now, the event is a cooperative effort to help families in need through three local non-profits.
“Battle Against Hunger has become a massive effort, and we want to thank our families and our community for their continued support,” said Superintendent Glenn Maleyko. “Teaching our students empathy for those who are in need is an invaluable life lesson.”
Students at Dearborn, Fordson and Edsel Ford high schools help spearhead the drives at their schools. They wanted to extend particular thanks to businesses that helped support the drive including Holy Cluck, WingFellas, Roma Bakery, Samhat Bakery, East Dearborn Nutrition, West Dearborn Nutrition, Twin Cones, Greenland and Dearborn Heights Dearborn Fresh.