Student Involvement

History of Beat Bama Food Drive

AUBURN-ALABAMA FOOD FIGHT
Beat Bama Food Drive

Since 1994, Auburn University and the University of Alabama students have competed in the weeks prior to the State’s biggest football game to see which University could raise the most food for their local food bank.  Auburn University’s Office of Student Involvement partners with the Food Bank in this effort.

The challenge has grown from a relatively small-scale event with about 1,000 pounds donated to becoming one of the largest food drives in the State.

The total pounds collected by both schools during this friendly competition is the equivalent of more than 6 million meals or over 300 tractor-trailer loads.

The real winners of this annual competition are the hungry families fed through the food bank network.  This food is channeled into the senior programs, low-income daycares, emergency food pantries, missions, and rehabilitation centers that are served by the Food Bank of East Alabama and the West Alabama Food Bank.

1 in 5 Alabama residents are considered “food-insecure.” For many, visits to the food pantry are no longer one-time emergency stops, but a regular part of the monthly routine to support their families.

We think of hunger as happening somewhere else in the world.  What is hard to believe is that it is happening here in our own country, but in Lee County alone, there are 26,560 people (including 7,010 children) who struggle to provide for themselves and their families.

It is not an overstatement to say that this food drive, the Auburn-Alabama Food Fight, determines whether some families will have Thanksgiving and Christmas meals and will have adequate food for their families beyond the holiday season.

Nothing compares to the football rivalry that exists in the State of Alabama!  This is about much more than the 60 minutes played once a year.  It is bragging rights for an entire year.  The opportunity to beat the opponent university is just too good to pass up!  This competition was the brainchild of Craig Young, former director of the West Alabama Food Bank, who felt that as long as there is this intense competition, we might as well put it to good use.

Annual Food Fight Results

The incredible aspect of this drive is that there are no losers. War Eagle to feeding THOUSANDS of individuals!