• The fourth annual food drive added nearly 4,000 usable food items to the Afton Food Pantry shelves
Afton Elementary students and staff took home the coveted “Soup”er Bowl trophy at the conclusion of the 2025 “Soup”er Bowl Food Drive last month. Food drive competition efforts between AES and Osmond Elementary School provided the Afton Food Pantry with 3,608 usable food items, offering families in our community who are food insecure over a year’s worth of soup, cereal and pasta.
This is the first time in the four-year tradition that AES has defeated Osmond Elementary, and earned the honor of housing the trophy until next February. “The “Soup”er Bowl has been an exciting and meaningful tradition for our school, and this year’s win made it even more special,” said AES Principal Danny Robinson in an email to SVI Media last week.
Students and staff from both schools battle each February in a food drive for soup, cereal and pasta. Each type of food item earns a pre-determined number of points towards the win. This year’s final score placed AES as the clear winner with 292 points. OES came in 81 points behind with 211 points.
Though AES will house the trophy for the next year, “Osmond put up a great fight,” said OES Principal Tyler Jack in an email to SVI last week. “It is so fun to see the way that the students, staff, and families put their hearts into this food drive. We love the “Soup”er Bowl!”
Once all the food had been collected, it was transported to the Food Pantry where Sierra Mitchell, Food Pantry Director, and her volunteers, along with 60 students from Swift Creek High School, sifted through the donations and calculated a final tally.
According to Mitchell and her team, Afton provided 375 cans of soup to the drive while Osmond provided 305 cans. A staggering 903 boxes and bags of cereal were donated between the two schools. This amount of cereal will last the pantry 14 months considering the number of families and individuals the pantry currently serves.
In response to the number of pasta donations from Afton, Mitchell exclaimed, “Holy pasta, Afton!” Pasta donations turned the tide in Afton’s favor with AES bringing in 566 pasta items compared to Osmond’s 286 pasta items, a difference of 280 items.
AES donated a total of 1,981 usable food items while Osmond supplied a total of 1,627 usable food items. Between the two schools, the food pantry shelves have 3,608 usable items that will significantly help the Star Valley community fight food insecurity among friends and neighbors.
Mitchell gratefully praised the young students. “What an incredible turnout! So amazing! What is more important to us is that we got mostly the exact items we needed! By intentionally asking for specific things, we had an incredible turnout of items! The best part is that most of the food we received doesn’t expire until 2025, which, for the Pantry, means we have until 2026. That is the biggest win for us! Thank you for spearheading this and for making it such a huge success!”
Administrators and staff at both schools work to make this a fun and meaningful event for students. “We give daily announcements and have daily scoreboard updates,” Jack said. “This year, the school principal that was losing at half time (Wednesday) had to wear the other school’s hat all day. Osmond was slightly behind at half time, so I had to wear an Afton hat all day. As fun as the competition is, the real winners of the annual “Soup”er Bowl are the families in our community that benefit from this event.”
“Our students, staff, and families came together with incredible generosity, not just to compete, but to make a real difference in our community,” Robinson concluded. “Seeing their enthusiasm and kindness in action was truly inspiring!”
