As the Sultan High School Turks football team prepares to meet up with Archbishop Murphy High School of Everett later on this month, Crosswater Community Church is busy coordinating their 5th annual Sultan Whiteout Hunger event.
The Whiteout game will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 26 at Sultan High School and is being organized by Crosswater Church in conjunction with the Volunteers of America. All game attendees are being encouraged to bring nonperishable food items with them to the game, and to wear white shirts. White t-shirts designed by Crosswater will be given out for free to the first 300 guests.
Crosswater Community Church Associate Pastor Jon Merwin shared that the main goal is to encourage the community to have a great time supporting the Turks and to collect some food while they're at it.
"It's something that we decided we wanted to do five years ago to help raise awareness that there's always a need at the food bank,GÇ¥ said Merwin. "We're just trying to show some support for the community, and the team, and get some food for the food bank.
Whiteout games, which became a trend in 2005, achieved notoriety via Penn State University and were basically a method for generating team support and school spirit while promoting solidarity among fans. In Sultan, the concept has been used similarly, with the added bonus of helping to fight hunger in the Sky Valley.
This year, in hopes of enhancing the volume of food donations, the Whiteout event will include some friendly competitions within the Sultan School District. At the high school, both Principal Tami Nesting and Assistant Principal Scott Sifferman have agreed to get hit with the proverbial pie-in-the-face should the students manage to collect a pre-determined amount of food during the week leading up to the game.
A similar challenge is being plotted for the middle school, as well.
Crosswater has also committed to making a monetary donation to the Sultan Food Bank of $1 per each pound of food collected by the schools.
"And then we're probably going to challenge our congregation to do something too, and if we get our goal, we'll probably have Aaron get a pie in his face,GÇ¥ said Merwin.
Aaron Day is the lead pastor at Crosswater Community Church.
In previous years, the Whiteout event has generated approximately 1,500 pounds of food. This year, the church is hoping for around 2,000 pounds. VOA staff will be on-site at Sultan High School during the game to load the food onto one of their vehicles for transport to the Sultan Food Bank.
Admission to the game is $6 for adults and students, and home-team students with an ASB card get in for free. Admission for visiting students with an ASB card is $3 and senior citizens age 62 and over get in for free. Family rates are available and admission for children in kindergarten through 6th grade is $3.
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