Thousands of Yellow Bags

Hundreds of students and volunteers gathered at Howell High School in New Jersey with a goal to collect food for families facing hunger. By the time they counted the donations, they had filled the football field and far exceeded the organizers’ target.

The second annual 100-Yard Food Drive Challenge took place on October 25. Students had collected food in their neighborhoods, bringing bags to Howell High School along with donations gathered at other collection sites. Thousands of yellow bags covered the field from end zone to end zone. More donations lined the sidelines.

Dermer Dreams, a New Jersey nonprofit, organized the event. The organization helps young people lead community food drives. This year, the effort brought together students, families, schools, businesses, and volunteers from across the state.

Organizers had hoped to collect 100,000 pounds of food. Instead, the students gathered more than 250,000 pounds, making it the largest food drive in the nonprofit’s history.

The work continued after the donations filled the field. Howell High School’s football team joined volunteers to move the bags into trucks. The food was then distributed to about 30 food bank partners across New Jersey, including Lunch Break, Fulfill, Howell Food Bank, and Open Door in Freehold.

For students, the drive offered a way to help their communities together. Howell senior Arianna Mustacchio told News 12 New Jersey that giving back alongside her friends felt good. The event also gave students a chance to organize, recruit neighbors, and take responsibility for a project with a practical purpose.

Dermer Dreams began its Neighborhood Captain Program after noticing that students were looking for community service opportunities. The program supports them in organizing local drives and involving the people around them. The first 100-Yard Food Drive Challenge was held in 2025 at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School. This year, the event grew into a statewide effort.

By Sunday evening, the football field was clear. The yellow bags were on their way to food banks, where partner organizations would get the donations to people who needed them.

A field full of food was a striking sight, but the drive’s reach came from many smaller acts: students asking neighbors to contribute, families filling bags, volunteers sorting and carrying donations, and food banks preparing to share them. Together, those efforts added up to more than a quarter-million pounds of help.

Fact check: Dermer Dreams’ press release and local reporting from The Monmouth Journal and News 12 New Jersey support the event details and figures. www.prlog.org