A student-led food drive Okemos, Michigan

Fighting hunger, one crunch at a time.

Crunch the Hunger began four years ago as one student's small food drive at Okemos High School. Today it's the whole town — students, schools, libraries, fire stations, and local businesses filling boxes every November so families right here in Okemos can feel a little safety and comfort through the holidays.

Donate now Other ways to help

Follow the drive at @crunchthehunger

Four Crunch the Hunger students kneeling in the back of a box truck loaded with boxes of donated food — loading the truck

Tables covered end to end with donated cereal, pasta, canned goods and snacks after drive week — one drive, sorted and stacked

6,000+
pounds of food since 2022: 4,000+
pounds in 2025 alone: $6,000
raised for local food relief: Hundreds
of families helped each holiday season

Every donation stays right here in Okemos — straight to the Okemos Community Food Pantry and the OHS Care Closet. No middleman, no warehouse across town.

It started with
one student.

Back in middle school in Troy, Michigan, Lahari Raja helped out with her school's food drive. “I got to see what a difference one can of food makes,” she says. “It left a huge mark on me.”

When her family moved to the Greater Lansing area, she brought that idea with her. What began as a small food drive at Okemos High School has grown, year by year, into something the whole community shows up for — Okemos Public Schools, the local libraries, Meridian Township, and businesses all over town. Hundreds of students now help collect, sort, and deliver every box.

Lahari Raja standing with a hand-painted DONATE sign beside carts stacked with bags and boxes of donated food on delivery day — delivery day, carts full

I started Crunch the Hunger with one small hope: to help someone. I never imagined that hope could grow into what it is today.
— Lahari Raja, founder

One week,
every November.

Students kick it off

Donation boxes pop up at Okemos schools, with themed days like Mac & More Monday and Can-Do Tuesday — matching donations earn double raffle tickets. Hygiene products are welcome any day. The National Honor Society runs a bottle drive alongside it, turning returnables into donation funds.
The whole town joins in

Drop-off spots open around town — in 2025 that meant the Okemos CADL library, Meridian Township fire stations, and Okemos Baskin Robbins. Local businesses host boxes and pitch in raffle prizes.
Everything stays local

Every bit of it goes straight to the Okemos Community Food Pantry — no warehouse in between, no shipping it out of town. Hygiene and personal-care items stock the high school's Care Closet.

Give online

Can't make it to a drop-off box? Money works too — every dollar buys more than we can carry. Dates and drop-off spots are posted on Instagram each fall.

Students at a bottle-return machine with a shopping cart full of cans and bottles during the National Honor Society bottle drive — the NHS bottle drive

Hungry to help?

Give

Donate online any time of year, or bring non-perishables and hygiene items to a school box or drop-off spot each November. One can really does count.

Donate online

Sponsor

Host a donation box at your business, chip in raffle prizes, or sponsor the drive. Thirteen local businesses backed us in 2025 — there's room for more.

Email the team

Shout

“The number one thing that anybody can do is spread the word — whether that be by mouth or online.” Share a post. Tell a neighbor.

Share a post

It takes a whole town.

Crunch the Hunger runs on partners — the schools that host the boxes, the pantries that put the food on shelves, and the clubs and neighbors who show up every year.

Home base
Okemos High School

Where the drive started and still runs from. Hygiene donations stock the school's Care Closet.
District
Okemos Public Schools

Donation boxes in schools across the district, from elementary through high school.
Where it goes
Okemos Community Food Pantry

Receives food and funds from the drive to stock shelves for local families.
Students
ACTION

The Okemos High School club that turns out volunteers for the drive and spreads the word on social media.
Township
Meridian Township

The Cares program partners on the drive, and township fire stations open their doors as donation drop-off points.
Drop-off
Capital Area District Libraries

The Okemos branch hosts a donation box through drive week.
Students
National Honor Society

Runs the bottle drive — collecting returnables and donating the proceeds — and partnered on the fundraising that sent $5,000 to the Okemos Community Food Pantry.
Students
Love 4 Our Elders Club

Folds origami hearts that go out on the donation bags.