Minn. Students Take On Raising 200,000 Lbs. Of Food For 'We Scare Hunger'
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- On a night that's devoted to costumes, candy and finding ways to be scary, we're now seeing kids showing concern about something that's truly horrifying: hunger.
It's an effort called "We Scare Hunger" and it's led by the same people who started We Day.
Remember that day-long concert at the Xcel Energy Center last October? We Day was a reward for tens of thousands of Minnesota teenagers who had participated in community service projects.
Craig Kielburger is the co-founder of Free the Children, which started We Day in Canada in 2007.
"Kids are looking for tangible simple ways to have an impact, and something as simple as knocking on a door on Halloween, collecting food for your local bank, can make a huge impact in refilling shelves in missions and service organizations," he said.
Kielburger encouraged students at Hopkins High School to slide a note under the doors of their neighbors before Halloween to let them know about the food drive, and to get their parents to help.
"Yes, this is about making hunger disappear, but it's also about teaching kids. So for parents who are listening, this is a great chance to teach kids about compassion and service," he said.
Last year students across Minnesota collected 160,000 pounds of non-perishable foods during the
"We Scare Hunger" campaign, enough to fill 10 school buses.
This year the challenge is to raise even more -- 200,000 pounds.
General Mills is getting things started by donating enough food to fill the first bus.
"We do a lot of work to alleviate hunger, but to see the passion and the energy of youth, and to see their ideas and how they get it done, it's one of the best parts of the job," Ellen Goldberg Luger, who heads the General Mills Foundation, said.
This year, We Day is on Wednesday, Nov. 12 at the Xcel Energy Center. Again, you can't buy a ticket to the concert. Students have to earn it through volunteer work.
But organizers said they are still looking for hundreds of volunteers aged 14 and over, which is another way to get into the We Day celebration.
The list of stars performing this year has not been announced. But we know Nelson Mandela's grandson, Kweku Mandela, will be a speaker.
