Second Harvest Applauds Hunger Fighters

There was enough clapping at the annual awards dinner on Wednesday to make your hands ache.

Yeah, the contributions made by the Santa Cruz County community during the were just that good. The goal was to raise 2.5 million pounds of food or cash equivalent. The community raised 2,715,919 pounds.

• There was the Aptos church whose , and they raised 1.2 million.
• In Santa Cruz, a man asked his friends to swim around Municipal Wharf—in December, without wetsuits. They brought in more than $18,000 in donations.
• Students at schools large and small contributed so other kids, perhaps even their peers, wouldn't go hungry. St. Francis High School, in Watsonville, "busted the 10,000-pound mark again," Second Harvest Chief Development Officer and emcee for the evening Danny Keith.

All of that and more was celebrated at a gala affair in the old Wrigely building on the Westside of Santa Cruz.