Contributed photo Members of the Grant Union Junior-Senior High School FFA chapter gather food donations they solicited during their "Trick or Treat So Someone Else Can Eat" activity Oct. 28. The students gave out cards good for an hour of work to anyone who contributed food.

After joining a statewide effort to feed Oregon’s less fortunate residents and collecting more than 1 1/2 tons of food, the 31 members of the Grant Union Junior-Senior High School FFA chapter are looking for more work.

On Oct. 28, during their annual “Trick or Treat So Someone Else Can Eat” activity Oct. 28, the students gave out cards good for an hour of work to anyone who contributed food.

The card is good for one hour of work on chores such as raking leaves, said Grant Union FFA adviser Adam Ineck.

“We want to give back,” Ineck said, emphasizing how generous community members have been. He said anyone with a card should contact him at the school.

The students collected 3,260 pounds of food, most of which went to the local food bank and area senior centers and church groups, he said.

The food was collected through the Halloween food-raiser, a donation of 2,400 pounds of potatoes and onions that came from the Adrian FFA gleaning effort and other efforts such as a Civil War contest that pitted Oregon State University and University of Oregon fans against one another in donated canned food.

“The best part was seeing how willing the people were to give food — their generosity,” said Jessica Carter, vice president of the Grant Union FFA chapter.

The connection with the Adrian FFA came through Anna-Marie Chamberlain, the adviser there, who contacted Ineck with the offer of potatoes and onions. He drove to Adrian to pick up the food on his way from an in-service meeting in Ontario.

The Grant Union efforts were in concert with FFA chapters statewide and with Les Schwab Tire Centers, which served as a collect point and helped with transporting the food, and the Capital Press agricultural newspaper, which distributed bags for food donations.