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Little Flower CYO prepares Amazing Race food drive

By Charles Crane - Staff Writer | Oct 26, 2024

Submitted Photo Participants in the 2023 Amazing Race weigh donations to calculate the winning team.

More than 50 local teensare expected to participate in the Amazing Race on Wednesday between 6:30-8:30 p.m throughout Rugby.

The Amazing Race is organized by the Little Flower Parish Catholic Youth Organization as a service project to collect non-perishable food items for the Pierce County Food Pantry. Suggested items include rice, canned food, cooking oil, condiments, cereal and noodles.

The teens will split up into five teams to cover five different areas of town, and each team’s haul will be collected and weighed at the end of the night by Vonnie Degenstein with the Pierce County Food Pantry and Father Frank Miller, with the winning team claiming bragging rights and satisfaction for all of the effort put in.

According to Lisa Volk, the Amazing Race brought in a total of 1,200 pounds of food last year.

“We thank those who are able to donate for their participation. This is just our little part that we can do as the CYO,” Volk said.

Degenstein said the food pantry provides about 1,500 pounds of food per month to around 45 families, and that food drives like the Amazing Race help fill its shelves during a busy time of year.

“It’s an ongoing thing to fill our shelves. Everything they give will go on the shelf and then go out in bags every month,” Degenstein said. “Everything we don’t get from food drives we purchase from our local grocery store.”

Rugby residents interested in donating during the Amazing Race are asked to leave a light on or leave the donations outside their home with a note marked “CYO Amazing Race.” Donations can also be brought to the Little Flower Parish office.

Adison Dosch, a Rugby High School senior and president of the CYO officer team, said the Amazing race represents the values the group seeks to live by, which they call the three S’s: service, spirituality and service.

“One of my favorite service projects of the year is the Amazing Race. We break into teams and race around the town collecting nonperishable food items for the Pierce County Food Pantry. It is really amazing to see how much food we collect and are able to help those in need,” Dosch said.

This will be Paisley Wangler’s fifth year participating in the Amazing Race, which she said has been one of her favorite things about CYO.

“The race is such a fun way to get to know your Catholic peers, and establish new friendships. The adrenaline to get the most stuff and win the race makes it so much more entertaining. The amount of teamwork is amazing,” Wangler said. “Personally, my favorite part of the CYO Amazing Race is the fantastic feeling afterwards. Knowing that you helped others and improved their well-being is overall a great feeling.”

Those with any questions regarding the event are asked to contact the Little Flower Parish office.