If hunger could be scared, it would have gotten quite a fright at Ursuline College Chatham (UCC) on Tuesday.
Chatham-Kent's generosity was on full display, with a small mountain of boxes filled with non-perishable food donations piled up in the front foyer of the school.
The food was all collected during the Lancers Scare Hunger Food Drive that took place last week Thursday evening -- on Halloween.
Instead of collecting candy, students went out on dozens of routes across the area, collecting non-perishable items for the Outreach for Hunger Food bank in Chatham.
Sam Stoffyn was one of the UCC students who made the rounds, collecting items. She told CK News Today that she was really struck by the generosity she encountered.
"I noticed a lot of people... even if they were forgetting that we were coming out, they were like, 'Oh just hold on a second, we're just going to go grab cans and food for you guys," said Stoffyn. "A lot of people were eager to give and that was amazing to see."
Grade 12 student Amelia Matthews was also out on one of the routes on Halloween and said there was a really positive response in the community again.
"I guess normally the route we took is one of the main ones that people go for... a lot of people were like, 'Oh yeah, we knew you guys were coming, let me grab some cans and stuff,'" said Matthews. "They already knew we were coming, so I think they were more eager to share because they knew about it."
Not only was the turnout visually impressive this year, it also stacks up very well compared to the collection the students took in during the same event in 2023.
Teacher Renee Culvervwell said their calculations showed that last year, the school collected 20 cubic metres of food. This year, they collected 34 cubic metres of donations.
The food was being delivered from UCC to the Outreach for Hunger Food Bank on Tuesday morning.