Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 16, 1991 TAG: 9102160124
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KIM SUNDERLAND/ NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The vote was Vanilla Ice 245, Hammer a close 232, and Carey trailed with only 56 cans of food - votes, that is.
The three singers' names were on boxes at the school for a two-week food drive sponsored by the Student Council Association. Pupils supported their favorite by placing a can of food in the appropriate box.
"It's been really funny!" said Brea Strager, a 10-year-old fifth-grader and a three-can M.C. Hammer voter. "Everybody's been talking about it. I'm kinda mad M.C. lost, but it was fun, anyway."
The project, however, wasn't held just for fun. The children raised 533 cans of food for the Blacksburg Interfaith Food Pantry where an average of 12 to 15 people a day have been coming for food since Christmas.
"We had 19 families in two hours on Thursday," said Alice Wills, a volunteer coordinator for the pantry who picked up the food on Friday. "Most days there are about 12 or so in here."
The SCA, which holds a public service project every school year, decided they'd do something different this time.
"We had been discussing homelessness and how it affects people," said SCA co-advisor Guylene Wood, a fifth-grade teacher. "We wanted to do something now that the holidays are over and it's getting colder. The children knew there were people out there without food."
No one recalled who actually thought of a food drive.
"Someone just came up with the idea," said SCA member Brian Wheeler, 10. "We met one morning and someone just said it."
Wheeler was excited about Vanilla Ice's win, but said he didn't vote.
"I forgot!" he said.
Many others made up for Wheeler's forgetfulness by loading the boxes to their rims. As the end of voting drew near on Thursday - and M.C. Hammer was in the lead - kids were racing in Friday morning with six-packs of green beans and all the soup cans they could carry.
Some can-switching even went on as competition got the best of some children.
"We had a box in the lobby, but kids were taking cans out and putting them in another box," said Christine Kesler, 11, SCA secretary. "We had to move the boxes into the [principal's] office."
As if Principal Ray Van Dyke didn't have enough to do picking a tune from one of the winner's albums to be played over the school's intercom system.
Van Dyke said he read lyrics "very carefully" before he found an appropriate one. "You wouldn't believe some of these songs!" he said of rappers M.C. and Vanilla. He finally decided on "Go Ill" from Vanilla Ice's "To the Extreme" album.
"I'm very pleased they were so concerned to do this," the principal said. "It's a nice way to show their love and concern."
by CNB