Although Parkesburg took the top spot in the Battle of the Boroughs Food Drive, the real winner was the Octorara Area Food Cupboard (OAFC), which received a total of 5,654 pounds of food throughout the drive, which ran from May 19 through June 23.

As part of the first-time initiative, three local boroughs - Parkesburg, Atglen and Christiana - came together in a friendly competition to collect food for the OAFC. Parkesburg collected 2,141 pounds in total, and Atglen came in second place, collecting 1,859 pounds. Christiana finished third with 1,654 pounds.

Battle coordinators were April Brade of the Parkesburg Parks & Recreation Committee, Bekkah Bitterman of the Christiana Parks & Recreation Commission and Jennifer Grossman, chairperson of the Atglen Parks & Recreation Commission.

Brade said that all who involved were pleased at the outcome of the effort. "We were not sure how this would work. It was one big grand experiment," she stated. "You have three municipalities, and each runs a little bit differently, but collectively we came together, and we are pleased with that."

During the food drive, collection locations were established in the boroughs, including at local libraries, businesses and municipal buildings, where residents were invited to drop off unopened, nonperishable, unexpired food items. Each week, the donations were taken by volunteers from the three organizations to the cupboard for a weigh-in.

"Each borough was responsible for taking their own food in and reporting back. It was an honor system," said Brade. "The three of us - Jen, Bekkah and myself - we kept in contact. We agreed that every Tuesday or Wednesday everyone would drop off their donations for the week and report back."

Some groups and residents took their food donations directly to the food bank. "(The OAFC) agreed to indulge us and weigh the food, and in fact, some groups dropped it off themselves," Brade explained. "They were instructed to say, for example, 'This is for Parkesburg,' and they would send me a screenshot of the weight ticket. We got credit for everyone's donation that didn't come through us but wanted to be included."

Atglen collected food during special events, including Popsicles in the Park on June 20, during which free water ice was given out at Borough Hall Park, and during its Memorial Day program on May 24.

On his official Facebook page, Atglen Mayor Darren Hodorovich said that he is "Atglen proud" following the food drive. "While this was a competition between the boroughs, the end result is an incredible amount of food collected for our neighbors in need," he stated. "Parks and Rec committees from all three boroughs worked together to create this event. However, the buy-in from the communities has been phenomenal."

At one point, Atglen was very close in taking the lead. On June 18, Christiana was in first place with 1,379 pounds of food, while Atglen was in second place by only nine pounds with 1,370 pounds of food collected. Parkesburg was in third place with 1,270 pounds at that point. "We were calling Atglen small but mighty," said Brade, noting that Atglen is smaller in population than Parkesburg.

Brade said the final push that took Parkesburg over the top was a collection of food by the Parkesburg pickleball group during the last week of the drive. The group, which meets at Minch Park, is led by Amy Wilde, who is also a member of the Parkesburg Parks & Recreation Committee. "Amy got the pickleball club to do one final massive drop-off (of food) on the hottest day of the summer so far," noted Brade.

Organizers plan to make the Battle of the Boroughs an annual event to coincide with the end of the school year. "It was so well received, and it came together so well we definitely want to do it again next year. We'll do it before school lets out and kids aren't getting free lunches," said Brade. "We got so much positive feedback from the general public and from the businesses that were assisting. Personally, I received positive feedback from (Parkesburg) Mayor (John Hagan) and borough council."

Brade noted that a trophy is being created for the winner. "The intention is for it to be like the Stanley Cup, and it will go to the winner every year," she said adding, "(Battle of the Boroughs) was a lot of fun for a really good cause. We had no idea that it would be this well received and well done with this amount of food."