When John DeLucia, a former local school board member and official with Citizens State Bank, predicted the Pasta Bowl campaign would collect 25,000 pounds of pasta donations this year, many people in the local school community were privately skeptical that goal was realistic.  After all, the previous year, 20,000 pounds of pasta had been donated and a 5,000 pound increase appeared to be a tall order.

John DeLucia was off on his 25,000 pound forecast, but not in the way many expected.  The 2019 Pasta Bowl campaign collected 40,197 pounds, more than doubling the previous year’s count.

“The Pasta Bowl has been called the largest pasta drive involving K-12 schools in the world, and it may be starting to live up to the hype with more than double the donations from a year ago,” said DeLucia, who also serves on Hamilton Southeastern Schools Foundation Advisory Council and helped start the community food drive in 2012.

Here is a breakdown of some of the schools involved in the food drive:

–Hamilton Southeastern High School was the high school division and overall winner with 6,464 lbs. The Royals unseated Fishers High School who had won the high school division each previous year.

— Fall Creek Intermediate won the intermediate/junior high division with 3,176 lbs. They replaced Riverside Intermediate School who had been the only previous champion in that category.

–Cumberland Road Elementary won the elementary division with 3,394 lbs. Hoosier Road Elementary had been the perennial elementary champion.

–Sand Creek Elementary won biggest gain title by increasing their collection by 1,389% over 2018.

In addition to the schools listed above, Durbin Elementary, Hoosier Road Elementary and Riverside Intermediate are being awarded the honorable mention awards for 2019. Each of these schools collected over 3 lbs. of pasta per enrolled student.

“Pasta Bowl is at the intersection of compassion and competition,” said HSE Schools Superintendent Allen Bourff. “I commend all our students this year for their competitive spirit and for an outstanding demonstration of compassion in combating hunger. It was an enjoyable way to make a positive difference for people in need.”

Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness also chimed-in, praising the effort. “It’s a testament to the values of our residents when we can come together as a community for a little friendly competition that benefits something much larger than all of us,” the mayor said.

The donated pasta will be distributed to local township trustees and other local nonprofit groups.

Students from the winning schools plan to celebrate with a group photo at the Meijer store on 96th street on Tuesday, 10/1 at 4:30 pm.