FoodBall 2023 totals

FoodBall 2023 came to a close on Monday night as the schools learned what their ten-day effort accumulated for local food banks. 

In the 43rd year of the “competition”, students from both Aberdeen and Hoquiam canvassed their cities, held events, and took donations online to support efforts to end food insecurity locally. 

Once again the schools went away from the historical competition of school-against-school format that was abandoned during the COVID pandemic and gathered donations knowing that it would be a combined total that was announced to assist the community. 

At the Grays Harbor PUD on Monday night, students, staff, and supporters of both the Aberdeen and Hoquiam high schools joined together for the final weigh-in to see how their efforts came out.

The announcement of the totals were made with both the Bobcat and Grizzly mascots and students learning of the final tally together with the community. 

In total, 6,236 lbs of food was donated to the schools, with an additional $125,576.10. With each dollar equating to 10 lbs of food (based on the buying power of Coastal Harvest) this created a grand total of 1,261,997 lbs for the year.

Advisors Ashley Kohlmeier and Katie Barr both stated that with the current inflation and financial struggles in the area, numbers were down as compared to previous years. They also added these local struggles only reiterated the need for the fundraising efforts.

In 2022, the combined total of the schools resulted in 5,676 lbs of food donated and $145,174.45, which was a total of 1,457,420.50 lbs counted.

In 2021, the schools brought in a tabulated 1,050,146.90, with the pandemic limited 2020 total being 656,399.50 lbs.