Passing hands, passing cans

Hand by hand, can by can, the students at Wasilla Lakes Christian School worked Friday to make sure nobody goes hungry.

After a week's worth of collecting cans, the students formed a "fireman's brigade" Friday afternoon and passed each can down the line from the school to an adjacent building, where they were stocked.

The school is located in Wasilla Lake Church of the Nazarene, on the Palmer-Wasilla Highway near Fred Meyer.

Last year, the church started a food bank, and the student event helped stock the bank with plenty of food.

"We got 1,340 things of food," said student Zach Ratzlaff. "It was a competition."

The teachers decided to split the grades up, and the team of the seventh- and fourth-graders won the competition, meaning there's ice cream in their future.

"The teacher that sponsored it paired up some teams and it was a really friendly kind of competition among the students," said Jolene Sparks, who works at the school.

The fourth- and seventh-grade classes won the competition, but everybody will receive ice cream, the students said. Plus, they all felt like winners by helping others through the food donations.

The food bank is a ministry of the church. Organizers said the donation of more than 1,300 food items helps.

"The church opened the food bank last fall, and it's the second food bank in the Valley," Sparks said. "It has been doing real well."

On Friday afternoon, the line formed from the main church/school building to another building, and the cans began being passed from student to student.

A makeshift band was assembled to keep the spirits high, and motorists passing by the school honked in support.

"We were wondering how we would take all the cans over to the food bank, and some of the faculty members said we should just line the students up like a fireman's brigade and pass the cans across, to get the students involved," Sparks said.