Twenty-three Upper Columbia Academy students collected over 1,500 pounds of food for Hurricane Ike survivors. The food drive was entirely student-led and student-executed at four Spokane, Wash., grocery stores in September.

UCA cooperated with Spokane's Second Harvest Food Bank, which had already sent more than two-thirds of its supplies to Texas and needed to restock.

Just four days before the food drive, Logan Villarreal, UCA senior, was inspired to help the hurricane survivors. He began making phone calls, designing fliers and organizing student teams. "It all happened very fast, and without the staff's support it could never have gotten off the ground," says Villarreal.

Sunday morning, each team set up shopping carts at the entrances to four Spokane grocery stores. Students handed out fliers explaining the food drive and helped shoppers carry groceries to their cars. The community's generosity was overwhelming. In just three hours, students collected a combined total of 16 shopping carts overflowing with donations.

The donations went to the Second Harvest Food Bank in Spokane. The food collected helped replenish the food bank's shelves so they could continue aiding Hurricane Ike survivors.