Students scavenge for FISH food

Sophomores Alana Woodbury and Kristi Shaffer sat proudly amid a mountain of food Thursday night in Senator Square during their first year participating in the Carson High School Annual Scavenger Hunt for Friends in Service Helping (FISH).

The duo were among 53 Carson High School students unleashed on the community between 5 and 7 p.m.

"It's neat to see how much people are actually willing to give up," Woodbury said.

"We went door to door and one man happened to have two turkeys," Shaffer said. "We were like, 'Thank you so much!' "

This was the second year that Student Activities Director Jennifer Tartan organized the long-standing event which donates thousands of dollars in food for Carson City families in need. Students went to homes of people they knew and strangers. They made pleas to businesses and grocery stores.

Then they hauled their loot back to the school to tally the points. Each group was given a score based on food they collected. The highest score won $100. Second place received $50 and third place $40.

Sophomores Chelsea Lopez, Justin Snowden and Anthony Bachmann had a smaller collection than some of the others, but they didn't care about the winnings.

"It was fun," Snowden said. "Maybe it was just the sense of helping people."

Team of four, junior Dominic Mariani and sophomores Brian Barnes, Adam Whitt and Daniel Gall agreed that the purpose of the drive made knocking on doors in the Silver Oak subdivision easier.

"It was a blast," Barnes said.

"Because it helps out the community," Mariani said.

Among the sacks of potatoes, bags of flour, cake mixes, boxes of cereals and practically any other food item one could imagine, the teens collected more than 2,000 cans of food, 52 turkeys, nine hams, 33 frozen pies and 39 cans of sweet potatoes.

The food was moved to a first floor hallway to await pickup by FISH in the morning.

"It was a beautiful sight, seeing all that food there for people," Tartan said. "I'm extremely pleased. I'm walking on air right now."

Tartan said the student leadership group that organized the event was equally proud of the end result.

"My favorite part was when the committee that organized it walked down the hall beaming," she said. "So many people just gave."