FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – Students at eight colleges in Fort Wayne are preparing to compete for a cause with Community Harvest Food Bank.

The food bank’s annual “U Can Crush Hunger” campaign kicks off its 9th year Oct. 23, and this year’s goal is to collect 125,000 pounds of food.

Purdue Fort Wayne, Indiana University Fort Wayne, Indiana Tech, Ivy Tech, the University of Saint Francis, along with Huntington, Manchester and Trine universities are all participating. The community can bring canned donations to designated areas at any of the campuses, and monetary donations to support a particular school’s efforts can also be made on the website for Community Harvest.

Each dollar donated will count as four pounds of food, organizers said. The collection for this competition ends Nov. 10.

In 2022, the food drive collected 106,929 pounds for Community Harvest.