One van, two parents, two younger brothers and a goal is Joey Wieser’s recipe for success.
Wieser, 12, led his seventh grade block class at Heatherwood Middle School to victory this week in the school’s annual food drive competition with Gateway Middle School. He collected 704 of the 936 food items his class donated Nov. 17 through 21.
“We took our van and drove around neighborhoods to ask for donations,” Wieser said.
The prize for the class that brings in the most food – tickets to the Nov. 25 Sonics game – was a motivating factor for Wieser.
“It’s always tempting to try to win the prize,” Wieser said.
But it’s all in a day’s work for Wieser – his class last year also won the competition. Wieser collected 536 of the 1,070 items his class donated last year.
But he is quick to mention that he did not win the competition alone.
Wieser’s classmate, Brady Reddington, 12, also donated a large amount of food items this year – 211 to be exact.
“I once knew somebody who couldn’t afford to eat,” Reddington said. “We just go out to the store and buy food – they don’t have the money to just go out to store and buy it.”
Other classes at Heatherwood also won prizes for the amount of food they collected. Second place, a pizza party, went to Ms. Patricelli’s sixth grade a.m. block for collecting 364 items. Third place, an ice cream sundae party, went to Mrs. Taylor’s sixth grade a.m. block for collecting 319 items.
While it will be exciting to go to the basketball game with his class, Wieser said there’s more to winning the competition than the prize.
“It’s all for the food banks,” Wieser said. “I’m just trying to fill them up.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
