While the revelry of the dismantling comeback against the University of Alabama in the Iron Bowl last week is still soaking in, the University has another reason to showcase its supremacy over its rival.
For the first time in three years, Auburn has won the Beat Bama food drive.
"The food bank called me and told me we had won," said Melanie Smith, sophomore in human development and family studies and the SGA director of the Beat Bama food drive. "I was just jumping up and down excited. I started crying because there's been a lot of hard work and effort put in since April, and to find out we had won was just amazing."
Smith said Auburn raised about 250,000 pounds of food this year for the East Alabama Food Bank, easily surpassing its previous record of 212,000.
Alabama football team's shortcoming in the competition was more than the one point that decided the Iron Bowl. The "Beat Auburn, Beat Hunger" drive in Tuscaloosa managed 218,510 pounds for the West Alabama Food Bank.
Despite the loss, Charlotte Brown, co-director of the Beat Auburn, Beat Hunger Food Drive and junior in marketing, was pleased with the overall results.
"Both schools were able to significantly increase numbers from last year," Brown said.
Smith said the East Alabama Food Bank was able to feed 30,000 families on Thanksgiving because of the donations.
"While we're truly happy to have beat Bama by collecting the most food in the competition, we know the real winners are the people in Alabama who need help with providing food for themselves and their families," said Karla Debrunner, office manager at the food bank.
Smith said she and her team of assistants focused this year on finding the best way to donate to the drive for students. For the first time, students were able to text "Beat Bama" from their cell phones and make a $10 donation that was added to their phone bill.
She also said they saw a spike in online donations.
"I felt like those really catered to the student body who is walking around on our phones texting," Smith said. "It was a generation gap we really needed to cater to by texting."
In addition to the technological revolution the food drive underwent, Smith said publicity was also a major push for her and her team. They put together an advertisement on the Jumbotron in Jordan-Hare Stadium.
"We may not have gotten the results we wanted from that," Smith said. "But the more people that hear Beat Bama food drive and get that stuck in their head, the more they're going to remember it and get sick of it and want to donate."
A silent auction was also incorporated into their efforts, and Smith said the event raised $7,000.
While Smith does not consider herself prone to superstition, she does see some correlation in Auburn's victory in the food drive and the Iron Bowl.
"I said, 'mom and dad, it's all going to be my fault if we lose this food drive and we lose the football game,'" Smith said. "And then when we won the game, I said, 'see, I told you.'"
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