Food bank to collect cans at annual Hoosier Hysteria

As IU students gather for the annual Hoosier Hysteria at Assembly Hall on Saturday, they will bring canned goods in addition to school spirit.

While Hoosier Hysteria is a celebration of IU sports and a kickoff to IU’s basketball season, it’s also one of the Hoosier Hills Food Bank’s three largest food drives of the year, HHFB Director of Development Jake Bruner said.

HHFB collects and distributes more than 3.2 million pounds of food per year to non-profit agencies in Brown, Lawrence, Orange, Owen, Martin and Monroe counties.

The event, presented by the Smithville broadband company, has been around for 20 years and is one of the main components of the relationship between HHFB and IU, according to a press release. Hoosier Hysteria will start at 7 p.m. with the doors opening at 4 p.m.

“Aside from being a lot of fun, Hoosier Hysteria is a really, really important source of food for us,” HHFB Executive Director Julio Alonso said in a press release. “This time of year we are always low on canned goods. This food drive gives us a big boost going into the holidays.”

Fans donated 10,988 pounds of food last year. This year, Bruner said he is expecting and hoping for more than 20,000 pounds.

In addition to Hoosier Hysteria, the food bank will be receive some much-needed publicity on Monday. HHFB will be featured on the Big Ten Network’s season finale of “Live BIG”, a program highlighting alumni from various Big Ten schools that have dedicated their lives to helping those in need.

The segment, airing at 7:30 p.m., will include an interview with Alonso, an IU alumnus. It will also document former IU football star Anthony Thompson’s visit to the food bank.

Thompson played professional football in the early ’90s for the Phoenix Cardinals and the Los Angeles Rams. He came back to Bloomington in August and helped pack boxes of food for the HFFB, Bruner said.

Bruner also said he hopes students and community members enjoy the “Live BIG” program.

“What we do is really significant for the counties, but there’s not a lot of notoriety, so it’ll raise awareness,” he said.

— Mina Asayesh-Brown