Olympia High School hosting second annual Titan Turkey Trot

Everyone loves a carnival. How about one for a good cause?

There will be games galore Friday, Nov. 8, as Olympia High School students host the second annual Titan Turkey Trot — a festive carnival at the school’s football field to help raise money for Second Harvest Food Bank.

The event, spearheaded by the National Honor Society, will consist of 26 high-school clubs — each with its own booth and a carnival-style game for children to play.

Attendees can pay a dollar to play a game for a chance to win a prize, Olympia High School librarian and National Honor Society adviser Bill Connell said. 

Attendees can expect everything from a dunk tank to pie throwing.

“It’s really fun for children of all ages — last year when we had elementary school kids come they had a great time interacting with the high-school students and they loved playing the carnival games,” Connell said.

It’s an event that first kicked off last year and raised money for No Kid Hungry, Connell said. 

This year’s cause — Second Harvest Food Bank — already has partnered with Olympia High School’s Student Support Foundation by offering a market after school where students can get food and bring it home.

“Second Harvest Food Bank is helping support that, so we’re going to help support Second Harvest Food Bank,” Connell said.

“This is the first year where we’re really looking to expand the reach of the turkey trot — last year was more of a foundational year and it went really well,” National Honor Society Vice President Andres Cubillos said. “This year we have a lot of new things planned out and we’re hoping that we can really reach out more to the community and bring in more money for Second Harvest Food Bank and, by extension, the Titan market.”

The carnival atmosphere and the games are just a part of the fun attendees can expect. There’s also the actual turkey trot, which offers some friendly competition amongst the high-school clubs with bragging rights on the line.

“Each club dresses up one of their members in a turkey outfit of their making and we have, one, the best looking turkey with the turkey crown,” Connell said. “Then we have a race on the track and the fastest turkey … their club name goes on the turkey cup, which is a perpetual trophy. They’ll get to keep the cup for the rest of the year.”

Connell said that the clubs are expecting an even bigger turnout this year than the previous event.

And it all ties back to an important message, he said.

“All of the clubs try to instill a value of community service, because we are educating and we are educating our future,” Connell said. “There’s a great value for community service — I think it makes our community stronger.”