School District asks fans to bring donations to game

BENTONVILLE — Fans attending Friday’s showdown between the School District’s two football teams will have an opportunity to help students in need.

The district’s Bright Futures program is asking fans to donate toothbrushes, toilet paper, soap and other toiletries as part of its “Keep It Clean” campaign. Bins for collecting the donations will be in the gates at Tiger Stadium.

All donations will be distributed to Bentonville students, said Amanda Musick, the district’s director of student services.

“In our district we have about 4,500 students who come from poverty,” Musick said. “While not every student may need these types of items, a lot do. These items can’t be purchased with food stamps. Often they’re the items that are lacking in our families’ houses.”

Bright Futures coordinates the efforts of schools, businesses and community members to meet the needs of children.

This is the third year the district has done the Keep It Clean toiletry drive, but the first time officials have tied it to a football game. In past years, the district has partnered with First National Bank, which has collected items at branches. The district hopes to elevate awareness of the drive by collecting items at the game, Musick said.

Henkel is donating laundry detergent for 2,000 loads to jump-start the event, according to the district.

Bentonville High School’s Tigers and West High School’s Wolverines meet at 7 p.m. Friday. Both teams have records of 6-3 overall and are 6-0 in 7A-West conference play. Friday’s winner will be the conference champion.

The quarterbacks of both teams — Will Jarrett of West and Easton Hughes of Bentonville — appeared in a video the district released this week promoting the Keep It Clean campaign.

“When Will and I face each other on the field Friday, Nov. 2, you can bet on a battle,” Hughes says in the video.

“But today we’re fighting poverty in Bentonville schools, and we need your help,” Jarrett says.

If Friday’s crowd is anything like the one at last year’s match-up between the two schools, it will be a packed house. The Tigers won that game, 37-28. Both teams were 6-0 in conference play at that time as well.

Extra seating is being added to accommodate the crowd, and a couple of extra police officers will be on hand, said Jack Loyd, Bentonville High School’s principal.

Keep It Clean, besides referring to the toiletry drive, is also meant as a subtle message to students and fans to be on their best behavior at Friday’s game.

“By and large, our kids are well behaved,” Loyd said. “It’s a big game for our teams and for our kids. But we’re going to visit with them pregame and remind them to keep things clean and cheer for our team, not against the other team.”