Almost a month before trick-or-treaters will hit the streets to fill their bags with candy, youth from local churches will be knocking on neighborhood doors in search of a different food item.
Confirmation students from First Lutheran, Gloria Dei, Our Saviors and Trinity Lutheran of Trenton, N.D. will be teaming up and going door-to-door in search of non-perishable food donations on the evening of Sept. 27 in participation of the Great Food Hunt competition. All donations gathered will be donated to the Salvation Army Food Pantry in Williston.
This will be the third annual Great Food Hunt hosted by First Lutheran Church of Williston. But this year they have branched out to other local churches and will be hosting a community barbeque with live music in Harmon park as a finale of the summer.
The meal will start at 5:30 p.m., with kids heading out on the hunt for donations at 6 p.m.
The youth will form teams of 3-5 kids and will be accompanied by two adults to go around local neighborhoods, knocking on doors asking for food donations. Teams will arrive back to Harmon Park at 7 p.m., have their donations weighed and a winner will be chosen and celebrated at the end of the evening.
“If nobody comes to your door, come down to the park and have a burger with us and bring a food (donation,)” said First Luthern deacon Lynea Geinert.
The team who brings in the most weight in food items will be awarded the traveling trophy. The 2022 Great Food Hunt winner went to Our Savior’s team, where the trophy was proudly displayed in their fellowship hall.
The food collected at the Great Food Hunt will be donated to the Williston’s Salvation Army food bank and be counted in First Lutheran’s goal of 5000 pounds of food collected throughout the summer as part of the Sip. Give. Go. project.
Since Sip. Give. Go. started in July, First Lutheran has collected 1755 pounds of food that has been donated to the Salvation Army food pantry or Gloria Dei food pantry. Non-perishable food donations are still being accepted and can be dropped off any day of the week at First Lutheran.
“There has been a lot of energy here, people have really had a good time,” Geinert said of Sip. Give. Go. “The community has really gotten around this.”
The public is invited to come to the Great Food Hunt gathering in Harmon Park starting at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 27 for a meal and are encouraged to bring a non-perishable food item for donation or to give to the teams if they are collecting in your local neighborhood.