SGA, Leadership reflect on successful Second Harvest campaign

Bearden’s Leadership class and Student Government worked hand-in-hand with the Bearden community and Second Harvest Food Bank this year to help donate 209,618 pounds of food to families in need. 157,224.6 meals were provided thanks to Bearden High School. After many weeks and hours put into fundraising, planning, collecting checks, weighing food, and counting money, Bearden beat Farragut in the annual competition between the two schools. Now, almost a week after the competition has ended, the question for SGA and Leadership sponsor Mrs. Rachel Harmon is what worked, and what could work better next year? Ten thousand in ten is one fundraiser that is always successful in bringing in the last crucial money in the competition. One other incredibly beneficial fundraiser this year was the return of Spirit Night and Powder Puff Football, which brought in enough money to be the second largest fundraiser this year. Another huge money-raiser is always the Junior/Senior Dawg Lot competition, which the Senior Class won this year. The senior class almost doubled the amount of money the juniors brought in, SGA treasurer Victoria Nelson said. The seniors finished with about $22,000 to the juniors $14,000. After donating almost 250,000 pounds of food last year, SGA set a goal of 300,000 pounds this year. Although Bearden did not reach this goal, the school did donate enough money to cover all of Second Harvest’s needs for an entire month. “I know we didn’t reach the goal we originally set, but at the same time I was really pleased with the amount of money we raised and even more importantly Second Harvest was very grateful for it,” Mrs. Harmon said. The competition between Bearden and Farragut this year marked the 17th year in a row that the two rival schools have competed to see who can donate the most for the 6 Cares Football Challenge. Mrs. Rebecca Nutter experienced her first year with Second Harvest as an SGA advisor and was surprised by all the time and effort that went into it. “The sheer amount of events and fundraisers that go into Second Harvest definitely surprised me, like all the restaurant fundraisers and Spirit Night and Electronight,” Mrs. Nutter said. Next year, SGA, Mrs. Harmon, and Mrs. Nutter are planning on repeating successful fundraisers from this year and improving them along with adding a few new touches to the competition. Although the competition with Farragut is over along with the fight for the Dawg Lot, SGA will gladly still accept donations to pass along to Second Harvest, or you can make a direct donation by visiting https://secondharvestetn.org/index.php?page=online-giving .