Lower Merion, Harriton in Food Fight

Student from 21 high schools, including Lower Merion, Penncrest, Harriton and Conestoga, are participating in a massive food fight that could win them $10,000 for their schools.

The Great Food Fight, , is a canned food drive competition benefiting Philabundance. Last year, 21 schools raised more than 64 tons of food for Philabundance over a two-week period, and this year, Shire is setting its sights even higher. The company is aiming to collect 100 tons of canned goods in this year's competition, which runs from Feb. 15 to March 2.

Being crowned the winner of the 21-school competition is good incentive to participate, but there's a bigger prize at stake: the school that collects the most pounds of food per student will win $10,000 for their school.

And there are some pretty good runners-up prizes as well: the school that collects the most food overall will win $5,000, and five $1,000 prizes will be awarded to the school in each participating county (Bucks, Chester, Montgomery, Delaware and Philadelphia) that collects the most food.

Lower Merion High School student Hannah O'Neill said LMHS will host a competition between the grade levels, with incentives for the grades that collect the most canned goods, like a pizza party at the end of the competition. And perhaps even more motivating, LMHS Principal Sean Hughes has offered to shave his head if the school wins the top prize, O'Neill said.

Any prize money won by LMHS will go toward the high school's chapter of buildOn, which is raising money to finance and construct a schoolhouse in Haiti this May.

"The $10,000 for the winning school—yeah, that was definitely a big incentive," Donahue said. "Philabundance is awesome, because not only does it alleviate hunger, it's also a local effort. They … help kids right in our school district, so [supporting them] helps your fellow students and the community."