Howell’s Food Drive Aimed for 100,000 Pounds. Its Organizer Says a Quarter Million

Hundreds of Monmouth County students filled the Howell High School football field in Howell, New Jersey, with yellow bags of donated food on a Sunday at the second annual 100 Yard Food Drive Challenge. The organizer, the nonprofit Dermer Dreams, says the drive collected over a quarter million pounds of food for food banks and shelters across the state.³¹

That total comes from the nonprofit itself. It was repeated on ABC’s World News Tonight, where David Muir featured the students on Nov. 2, and by Good News Network, which calls it the largest food drive in Dermer Dreams’ history.¹²

News 12 New Jersey reported the goal as 100,000 pounds for New Jersey families in need.³

How you fill 100 yards

The method starts small. Each student leader gets 100 donation bags and has to come up with a plan to fill them.³

Dermer Dreams’ Neighborhood Captain Program gives students those bags along with a playbook. Students can also earn community service hours.²⁵

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Before the event, about 350 Howell students were each expected to bring in 100 bags, which works out to roughly 35,000 bags from that school alone. Organizer Dan Dermer hoped for more than 50,000 bags in all, the Asbury Park Press reported.⁴

On the day, volunteers carried donations from cars to the field and set the bags down in rows along the full 100 yards. Good News Network described thousands of yellow bags covering the field from one end zone to the other.³²

Then the Howell High football team, whose usual business on that grass involves gaining yards, helped volunteers load the bags onto rented trucks.²

Where the food went

The trucks headed to food bank partners including Lunch Break, Fulfill, Howell Food Bank and Open Door in Freehold. The organization says the food is now at 30 food banks. It is meant for kitchens, shelters and other groups across New Jersey.²³

“Every bag represents a young person who chose to make a difference in someone’s life,” co-founder Alyse Dermer said, as quoted by Good News Network.²

“These students did more than collect food: They united communities and demonstrated the power of working together,” co-founder Dan Dermer said in the same account.²

A drive that keeps growing

The food drive began after Superstorm Sandy, and the Dermers launched the Neighborhood Captain Program in New Jersey in 2019.²⁵

The first 100 Yard Food Drive Challenge was held Oct. 26, 2025, at Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School and drew more than 1,000 students and their families.³

Howell High’s own numbers show the climb. Its partnership with Dermer Dreams began three years earlier, with about 20,000 pounds collected in the first year. In the second year, when Howell became a drop site, that rose to about 55,000 pounds.⁴