'Fight Hunger Games'

St. Anthony School hosts basketball games to fight hunger

HAWTHORNE  It felt like March Madness in the middle of January during the weekend of Jan. 15-17, as a marathon of 14 basketball games were held in the gym of St. Anthony School here. But different from winning a national championship, the cause was just as important — to bring awareness about a national problem — hunger.

Elementary school students from eight schools and youth groups from parishes in the Paterson Diocese and Newark Archdiocese participated in the weekend games also known as the “Fight Hunger Games” and were asked to bring non-perishable food items to a collection area in the school gym before each game.

“We use these games to help raise awareness of the never-ending fight against hunger and as part of that effort, we hold a food drive to collect food to benefit local food pantries,” said Brian Tousignat, coordinator of the games.

For the past couple of years that, Fight Hunger Games has been hosted and this year, the young people collected more than 1,400 food items, which include canned meats, pancake mix, snack foods, juice and pasta sauce.

Throughout the year, the parish community at St. Anthony’s hosts several events for the poor and needy such as a CROP walk, making Thanksgiving food baskets and delivering turkeys to the needy during the holidays.

Fight Hunger Games was another way to get the young people involved with the food collection in a fun way while playing basketball games. To make the collection more of an event, the cheerleaders at St. Anthony’s were present to cheer during the games. In addition, high school students at St. Anthony’s Parish volunteered their time to collect the food items while the younger students played basketball.

Cielle Tousignat, a senior at Hawthorne High School, who volunteered during the weekend, said, “This is a great way to collect food for such an important cause. I remember last year, it took us forever to bring all the food to the pantry here at St. Anthony’s.”

One of the schools participating was Holy Spirit School in Pequannock. John Zapana, the basketball coach for the school, said, “It’s a great way to show sportsmanship by coming together and caring for others. Everyone is engaged in the food drive from the students to their parents,” he said.

Tiffany Dellacroce, a mother of two daughters on the cheerleading team, said, “It’s a great idea. It gets the kids involved and they have fun for a good cause.”