The annual Beat ‘Bama Food Drive is underway, continuing a 32-year competition between Auburn University and the University of Alabama to see which school can collect the most food for its local food bank before the annual football rivalry game. Auburn won last year’s competition with 648,305 pounds of donated food, compared with 630,624 pounds collected by Alabama, with the two schools combining for nearly 1.3 million pounds. This year’s drive runs through Nov. 19. Donations collected in the Auburn area will support programs served by the Food Bank of East Alabama, including senior programs, soup kitchens, emergency food pantries, missions and rehabilitation centers. The drive is largely student-organized but receives broad community support, with collection barrels placed at local businesses, schools, grocery stores and locations across the Auburn University campus. Organizers said the need is especially great this year as food insecurity has reached a 10-year high. A current list of donation locations is available through the Food Bank of East Alabama.CONTRIBUTED PHOT0
