TOURNAMENT INFO
Mount Vernon Nazarene University and Kenyon College will host the 14th annual Food For The Hungry Holiday Invitational on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 7 and 8. Basketball games will be held at 6 and 8 p.m. at MVNU on Friday, and 4 and 6 p.m. at Kenyon on Saturday. Other teams include Ohio Christian University and University of Michigan-Dearborn. Admission is $4 or eight non-perishable food items for adults, and $2 or six non-perishable food items for students. Come out and support the Cougars and Lords while fighting hunger in Knox County!
All proceeds from the Food For The Hungry drive benefit Interchurch Social Services and The Salvation Army, helping to stock their food pantries and to give financial assistance in their support of Knox County’s needy. This annual drive is truly a community partnership, and has continued to meet the need for food each year through the generosity of local businesses and individuals.
For more information on any activities surrounding Food For The Hungry or how you can volunteer, contact (740) 392-9696 or visit www.FoodForTheHungryCares.org.
YOUTH CLINICS
In conjunction with Food For The Hungry, Mount Vernon Nazarene University’s men’s basketball team will sponsor a youth basketball clinic and MVNU cheerleaders will sponsor a cheer clinic on Saturday, Dec. 8.
The basketball clinic will be held from 10-11:30 a.m. in the MVNU gymnasium, and is designed for boys and girls in first through eighth grades. It will be led by Head Cougar Basketball Coach Scott Flemming and will include members of the 2008 squad. Players will run fundamental station drills and share their testimonies. There will also be games and prizes. Registration is four non-perishable food items that will go to support Food For The Hungry. To sign up, contact Scott Flemming or Assistant Coach Ryan Frost at (740) 397-9000, ext. 3100.
The cheer clinic will also be held on Saturday, Dec. 8, from in the MVNU gymnasium from 1-2:30 p.m. Focused for girls in kindergarten through sixth grade, the clinic will be led by Cougar Cheer Coach Jill Spearman along with key cheerleaders. Registration fee is four non-perishable food items. Sign up by contacting Jill Spearman at (740) 392-5455.
ZELKOWITZ MEMORIAL AWARD/SCHOLARSHIPS
Mount Vernon Nazarene University announced Dean and Audrey Spearman, better known as “The Rollin’ Buckeyes,” as the recipients of the Stephen W. Zelkowitz Memorial Award on Friday, Dec. 7, at the 14th annual Food For The Hungry Holiday Invitational.
The Spearmans have helped with FFH in a many ways. In conjunction with the Knox County Ohio State University Alumni Association, they have provided food for the workers on the day of the drive for the last few years. They have also been part of the Psi Iota Xi Holiday Treasures Auction for many years—both as donors of auction items and as bidders for auction purchases, many times donating their purchases back to be auctioned a second time. Dean and Audrey bought the very first gingerbread house at the previous broadcast location in the old Mount Vernon shopping center.
Sally Nelson, last year’s Zelkowitz Award winner, said, “It was always an encouragement to see Dean and Audrey in the audience.” The Spearmans have been strong supporters for Hospice of Knox County as well as many other local non-profit organizations.
This award is given annual by MVNU in honor of the late Stephen W. Zelkowitz, who helped initiate and support the Food For The Hungry program in its early days. Zelkowitz was a community leader and served as president of Mount Vernon Cablevision. He is survived by his wife Donna Rikin Zelkowitz of Atlanta, Ga.; his son, Jonathan London Zelkowitz of California; his daughter, Juliet Sara Zelkowitz of Atlanta, Ga.; and his mother, Helen Zelkowitz of Mount Vernon.
Stephen’s mother, Helen Zelkowitz, who passed away in 2006, generously provided for two $500 scholarships awarded to one male and one female basketball player at MVNU. Recipients Melissa Mastrodonato and Joe Kalb were announced as the scholarship recipients at Friday’s Food For The Hungry games. Mastrodonato is a sophomore nursing major from Lakewood, Ohio, and Kalb is a sophomore computer science major from Bucyrus, Ohio.
STANLEY CAN AWARD
For the past 12 years, Food For The Hungry has challenged Knox County high schools to compete for the Stanley Can Award, given by Mount Vernon Nazarene University. The school that donates the most food items per student to the Food For The Hungry drive wins the Stanley Can and keeps it at their school for the next year. The top student from each school will also be recognized.
Students are also invited to watch MVNU and Kenyon basketball on Friday, Dec. 7, and Saturday, Dec. 8. Friday games will be at 6 and 8 p.m. at MVNU, and Saturday games will be at 4 and 6 p.m. at Kenyon. Other teams include Ohio Christian University and University of Michigan-Dearborn. The Stanley Can winner will be announced right before the 8 p.m. MVNU game on Friday.
Representatives from each of the Knox County schools are asked to keep a running tally of items collected as well as total number of students and turn numbers in at the end of the competition. For the past eight years, the Knox County Career Center has won the award. Will KCCC come away a winner this year, or will another school step up to the challenge?
In the end, the Knox County community will be the winner because we are all fighting the common enemy of hunger. All food items collected by high schools during the Food For The Hungry Stanley Can competition stay in the community in which they were given.
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