Bearden donated more than $27,000 to Second Harvest last week, a larger donation than the combined total of all the other schools in the region’s Second Harvest football challenge.

Initially, SGA and leadership set a goal of $50,000 for Bearden, an average of $25 per student. Bearden raised $26,072.31 in cash and 5,304.8 pounds of cans, totaling to $27,469.81 when the cans are converted into dollars. On average, each student donated $13.50.

More donations are still coming in as teachers are turning in their totals.

“We did not completely reach our goal, but we like to look at it as: Second Harvest has over $27,000 more than they had before our help,” SGA president Katherine Krouse said.

SGA expected donations to fall without direct competition with another school. This is the second year that Farragut has not competed with Bearden.

SGA sponsor Mrs. Rachel Harmon said that although Bearden did not raise as much, the students did just as well as they did last year. Bearden received a $10,000 anonymous check last year, but even without that this year, the total donation did not significantly drop.

Student participation fell in the pit and parking lot competitions. SGA is working to come up with new, innovative fundraising ideas, Mrs. Harmon said.

Second Harvest chair Cara Wolfe said that Spirit Night and Powderpuff were extremely successful.

“Some of the students may feel like they haven’t done much, but there is no way we could have raised as much as we did without their support and contributions,” Wolfe said.

Mrs. Harmon said that SGA is proud of Bearden’s help and the fact that the canned food drive is associated with Bearden.

“Students understand that it’s part of our culture,” Mrs. Harmon said. “And it’s what we do.”