TOTS total: 152 tons of food

Thespian volunteers collected 304,578 pounds of donated food for distribution by food banks around the United States in the Thespian Society’s annual Trick or Treat So Kids Can Eat community service program. Two hundred eighty-nine Thespian troupes in forty-one states participated.

The 2011 collection totals were down from the previous year’s record high because of an unseasonable blizzard that paralyzed the Northeast on Halloween weekend, TOTS-EAT campaign chair Ginny Utz said. "It was disappointing that some of our troupes were unable to participate as planned because of the weather, but that will give us motivation to work that much harder in 2012,” she said. “Collecting over 150 tons of food is a remarkable accomplishment and our members should be proud of their hard work."

Since the TOTS-EAT  program began in 2003, Thespians have collected more than two million pounds of food for distribution to needy families.

Utz announced the following Cornucopia Award winners for this year’s most successful collection efforts:

• Most total weight for a single troupe: Grinnell High School, Troupe 4274, Grinnell, Iowa, 23,643 pounds
• Most total weight for a team, two to five troupes: Lee’s Summit United, Lee’s Summit, Missouri, 7,236 pounds. (Participating troupes: Lee’s Summit West High School, Troupe 6761; Lee’s Summit High School, Troupe 1885; Lee’s Summit North High School, Troupe 6258; Summit Christian Academy, Troupe 7225)
• Most total weight for a team, over ten troupes: Wichita Area Team, Wichita, Kansas, 9,708 pounds. (Participating troupes: Darby Senior High School, Troupe 184; Kapaun Mount Carmel Catholic High School, Troupe 695; Wichita Heights High School, Troupe 923; Wichita High School West, Troupe 1204; Wichita Southeast High School, Troupe 1820; Wichita Northwest High School, Troupe 2661; Andover High School, Troupe 3540; Maize High School, Troupe 3596; Wichita North High School, Troupe 3473; Andover Central High School, Troupe 6282; Rose Hill High School, Troupe 6544; Northeast Magnet High School, Troupe 6542; Wichita South High School, Troupe 182)

Texas, with fifty-two troupes participating, collected the most total weight among all chapters. Texas Thespians brought in 53,069 pounds of food.

TOTS-EAT award winners

Final troupe and team collection totals