Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 12 No. 3 | January 2020

inside.hokiesports.com 3 B owl games aren’t just about traveling to a city, participating in a few practices, and then playing a game. They represent an opportunity for experiences, and the players and coaches on Virginia Tech’s football team took time away from their Belk Bowl preparations to enjoy the ultimate bowl experience, participating in a bowl-sponsored event that made a difference in the Charlotte area. Two days before the game, the Hokies packed food in bags at the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina, which distributes more than 60 million pounds of food annually to 19 counties in the areas surrounding Charlotte. Approximately 18 percent of the area population lives in poverty. Kentucky’s players took the early morning session and packed 1,500 bags worth of food, while Tech players took the late-morning session and packed an additional 1,500 bags. The 3,000 bags will be delivered by the food bank and partner agencies to needy children. One in four children in the Charlotte area suffer from hunger. The event meant a lot of Tech’s players, especially to the 16 players on the roster from the state of North Carolina. “It’s great,” Tech linebacker Dax Hollifield said. “Being from Shelby [an hour from Charlotte], which is right down the road, there is a lot of poverty. There are a lot of people that go hungry on the weekends. A lot of my friends do. It’s a good feeling to come in here and give back to the community. I love doing that. I never want anybody to go hungry. I see a lot of people on the weekends that never have anything to eat. So this makes me have a good feeling that I’m doing some good and helping out the less fortunate.” The Second Harvest Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina’s partnership with the Belk Bowl not only enables the players to help with the packing, but more importantly, enables the food bank to bring much-needed attention to an issue — childhood hunger — that is relatively out of the public eye. Tech’s players and coaches, and probably those from Kentucky as well, would agree that the outing was a highlight of the trip. - to