The Packers Women's Association 17th Annual Food Drive for Paul's Pantry raised $12,541 and collected 32,400 food items at the Oct. 5 Packers-Seahawks game, but that wasn't all.
Approximately 30 area schools held their own in-school food drives, in conjunction with the Lambeau Field effort, which collected 44,000 food items and Younkers donated $4,000 to the cause, a portion of the proceeds from the department store's grand opening preview sale shopping night, Aug. 8, at its new Oneida St. location.
Thus, the grand total collected this year amounts to $16,541 and 76,400 food items.
Notre Dame Elementary & Middle School in De Pere, Wis., took first place honors among the area schools involved, collecting roughly 18 pounds of food per each of Notre Dame's 357 students -- 6,431 pounds of food overall.
As a reward for the students' hard work, several Packers made an appearance at the school Tuesday.
Chad Clifton, Aaron Kampman, Marco Rivera, Kevin Barry, Kenny Peterson and Mark Tauscher visited with students and signed autographs during the school's lunch periods.
Elmore Elementary School came in second with 7.69 pounds per student (2,038 pounds, 265 students) and Forest Glen Elementary school took third place with 7.60 pounds per student (4740 pounds, 623 students).
The annual food drive has now collected more than 396,700 food items and raised more than $146,900 in its 17 years of existence.
