Salt Lake, Provo mayors compete for charity

Even if the game lacks BCS implications this year, the rivalry remains heated.

And regardless of what happens on the field, the annual BYU-Utah Food Fight could mean more than ever for families around the state, officials say.

"This is, perhaps, a year where this is more important than it has ever been," Provo Mayor Lewis Billings said Monday afternoon.

In the run-up to the Nov. 28 rivalry game, Billings and Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker traded good-natured jabs about each school's football team.

The two mayors even placed a friendly bet on the game.

For the second year in a row, the mayor representing the losing team will have to bike from one city hall to the other.

A heated food-drive contest would mean plenty for the state's food banks in the midst of a widespread economic downturn.

Jim Pugh, executive director of the Utah Food Bank, said he has seen a 30 percent increase in families seeking aid this year.

The Community Action Services food bank, which serves Utah, Wasatch and Summit counties, has seen a 60 percent bump in requests this year. Of the 3,000 families served, 60 percent have never sought assistance before, officials said.

"This year especially there has been an extraordinary amount of need in our community," Pugh said. "This holiday season is one of the times we can help make sure these shelves get filled."

Becker, alongside University of Utah mascot Swoop, tried to rally Ute fans.

"Let's not only win on the field but with our generosity," Becker said, asking Ute fans to donate more than last year's 212,000 pounds of food and $35,000.

Billings, meanwhile, said he expected "an experience of humility" for the Utes.

"Thank you for the bulletin-board fodder," Becker replied.

Even though Utah won last year's rivalry game, Becker rode alongside Billings from Provo to Salt Lake City in a "raging snowstorm" last December.

That, the mayors said, is the spirit of the "Food Fight."

"Either way, everybody wins," Becker said.

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