Students scavenge for food to help poor

On the surface, the two appeared to be average teenagers, two 16 year olds just hanging out.

James Reavis wore his letterman's jacket and Richel Zafranovich's blonde hair hung loose over her pink sweater.

But on this night, the pair had a mission: scavenge for food.

They began in Northridge and approached the first door.

"You do the talking, I'm just going to hold the box," James told Richel.

She agreed, "OK, that's good."

They pushed the doorbell and within seconds, Kelly Pawley opened the door.

Richel made the pitch.

"Hello, ma'am. How are you doing? We're doing our annual scavenger hunt for Carson High to benefit FISH. We were wondering if you would like to donate anything."

It was an easy sell.

Pawley returned with four cans of food and two boxes of macaroni and cheese.

"I always try to help out during the holidays," she said. "I'm more fortunate than a lot of families but I've been in their situation where I haven't been able to feed my kids."

Nearly 100 Carson High School students split into teams Tuesday night to help feed needy families during the holiday season.

"It's an excellent thing," Jason said. "There's a lot of people who aren't very fortunate. I'm doing what I can to help them."

Cassia Roth, chairwoman of the drive, said the spirit of giving draws the student body together for the activity.

"It's really important during the holidays to help the needy families," she said. "And it's so much fun. It gets all the different groups in the school involved."

Food items were each assigned a different point value ranging from one point for a can and up to 50 for a turkey.

The team collecting the most points wins a cash prize.

Last year, the students collected more than 82,000 pounds of food.

Jason and Richel congratulated one another on their first success then moved on.

"Do you think these people are home here?" Jason asked.

"I don't know."

"They do have a light on," he said. "It's worth a shot."

Doorbell.

Nothing.

Next house. Better luck.

Adrienne Zapponi was equally eager to give.

"Why not?" she asked. "It's my little part."

Jason grabbed the box and Richel ran ahead into the darkness.

"C'mon," she yelled over her shoulder. "Get pumped up. We're getting food for homeless people."