By Barry Porterfield
Bedlam is the name given to the rivalry between the Oklahoma Sooners and Oklahoma State Cowboys — in or out of the sports world.
For Pauls Valley residents who are fans of either team, it’s also a rivalry that helps out a good local cause — collecting nonperishable food for the Pauls Valley Samaritans.
That’s a big deal since an army of volunteers continues working to deliver Thanksgiving food baskets to local residents in need. They will also soon be preparing for the sequel with Christmas food baskets.
One way to help the cause and support your team is the Bedlam canned food drive spearheaded by The Economic Group, a downtown retail merchants committee of the Pauls Valley Chamber of Commerce.
“This is an effort to resupply the Samaritans and charge ahead to the Christmas holiday,” said chamber Director Della Wilson.
The way it works is OU and OSU fans donate food and designate it as a contribution going in their team’s name.
“We want fans of the two teams to compete and bring in the food contributions to us at the chamber office or a number of drop-off sites at businesses throughout town,” Wilson said. “We want people to give because they want to give and it helps their team. It’s the neighborly thing to do.”
The food drive pits fans from each team against each other as the one with the most food donations wins the contest.
As a way of separating the donations and keeping track, food coming in for the effort will be placed on one of two tables at the chamber office. One table has an OSU banner, the other an OU banner. When it’s over the contributions will be eyed to see which side collected the most food.
The big day is Monday, Nov. 30 as donations can be made through then at the chamber office, 112 E. Paul Ave.
“One hundred percent of the donations goes to the Samaritans,” Wilson said.
As with last year’s drive the whole idea is to help restock the food pantry. The Samaritans, which began here three decades ago, provides food to people in need. The group is especially busy this time of year with the distribution of food baskets for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The need for help is even greater this year. Samaritan officials said the requests for Thanksgiving baskets hit a new record and they expect many Christmas requests, too.
Anyone who misses the Monday donation deadline for the Bedlam contest may still donate food to the Samaritans by dropping goods off at the chamber.
For more information about the Bedlam food campaign or Samaritans’ Christmas drive, call the chamber at (405) 238-6491.
