The Valley has until Thursday, Dec. 18 to help Mount Si High School’s Foodball food drive meet its goal of raising 45,000 pounds of food for local food banks that have seen sharp spikes in demand with the economic downturn.

“The families that are in need have tripled in the last couple of months. Especially in the holiday season, we need to think of others,” said Foodball coordinator and Mount Si senior Nikki Stanton.

As of Thursday, Dec. 11, elementary and high school students had collected about 15,000 pounds of non-perishable food that will be distributed to Mount Si Helping Hand Food Bank in North Bend, the Fall City Food Pantry, and the United Methodist Church in Fall City, Stanton said.

The ASB is planning a “Fill the Truck” event for Saturday, Dec. 13, when student leaders will brave possibly snowy weather to ask for donations outside of Safeway in North Bend from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

They will also raise food at the Friday, Dec. 12 Mount Si High School boys and girls basketball games, when three cans of food get fans admission to the matches.

The Foodball has been an annual tradition for years, said ASB President Ben Olson.

To spice things up, organizers added an element of competition: The first-period class with the most donations wins a “fabulous prize,” which Stanton is keeping secret.

On Dec. 11, Melanie Breitbach’s first-period class led the way with 890 pounds of food. Second place was a distant 570 pounds. Breitbach’s class won the competition last year.

The ASB collects and weighs food from all classes each school day between Dec. 2 and Dec. 18. High school students also drive to the five participating elementary schools — North Bend, Opstad, Fall City, Snoqualmie and Cascade View — each week.

Stanton has been impressed with students’ participation.

“The kids are really getting into it. We see a lot of food coming in, from the high school and the elementary schools,” Stanton said. “That’s really good to see.”