Hands-On-A-House contest officials packed cars and trailers with canned food Thursday, September 13th, as they picked up donations from each Brownwood elementary school.

The Hands-On-A-House competition officially started September 14th, and lasted 3 days during the 12th Annual Brownwood Reunion Celebration.  There were 28 contestants competing to win a hunter’s cabin who were also challenged in a food drive.  The top two winners of the food drive received an extra rest-break during the contest.

The schools began participating last year, helping to kick-start the food drive as a way to better involve the community and awareness of the hunger problem in this area.  Many of the schools held class competitions for the most donated cans.

“The winning class gets to have a pizza party,” said East Elementary Principal, Nanda Wilbourn.  “They will also have their picture taken and help load the food.”  The winning classes from each school were also recognized in local media and on Saturday afternoon during the Hands-On-A-House competition.

East elementary estimated a total of around 1411 cans of food were donated from their campus.  Woodland Heights elementary reported around 1052 cans, and numbers were not immediately available for Northwest Elementary or Coggin.

The donated canned and boxed goods were displayed at the Hands-On-A-House Competition during Brownwood Reunion. The canned goods donated by the schools were combined with others donations during Reunion.  At the end of the Hands-On-A House competition on Sunday; 15,000 cans of food were donated.   According to contest organizers all food collected was divided equally between Saint John’s Episcopal Church’s Food Pantry and Good Samaritan Ministries.

Pictured left are the approximately 1411 cans of food which were donated by classes at East Elementary as a part of the Hands-On-A-House Food Drive.