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.
e-mail: afalk@desnews.com
Recent comments
Great human interest story. How about the Provo mayor carry the...
Anonymous | Nov. 11, 2009 at 5:21 p.m.
Thats what they are doing, from one city hall to the other
Anonymous? | Nov. 11, 2009 at 9:43 a.m.
It could have BCS implications. There has to be some stuuf happen...
Anonymous | Nov. 11, 2009 at 8:45 a.m.
- BYU basketball: Cougars crush Dons 6:32 p.m.
- Interception ends comeback bid 6:15 p.m.
- Cougars cruise past San Francisco 6:13 p.m.
- Utahns in giving mood 5:35 p.m.
- Kirilenko will not play tonight 5:33 p.m.
- Holiday window-shopping 5:10 p.m.
- Kingsbury books 'Wedding Singer' 5:09 p.m.
- Gems losing out in box office 5:09 p.m.
- Europe has many holiday markets 5:08 p.m.
- Winter vacation rental can be bargain 5:08 p.m.
- Why is Y. ignoring spew of hatred?
302 - BYU says Hall incident resolved
247 - Letters: Liberal because LDS
245 - 2 citations issued at Y.-U. game
189 - Hate not limited to 1 in-state rivalry
188 - Aggies shoot past Cougars
179 - Y. profs: Beck not all-knowing
175 - N.Y. Senate rejects gay marriage
128 - Max Hall: a fixture in rivalry lore
118 - Unbeaten BYU takes trip to Logan
105
Trolley Square's annual Holiday Open House will feature visits with...
That does it — I'm having an affair! Thanks to Tiger Woods, David...
First, a big thank you to all who posted questions here for me to ask...
Couldn't agree with you more! June can't come soon enough!
We have had two kids commit suicide at my school alone in the last 3 weeks,...
If you want to vote Bob Bennett out of office, then you had better get...
I hope you're not trying to say that the Book of Mormon is about how bad...
You must be the same guy that predicted a 20 point BYU win over USU in...
If you're referring to "In God we trust" on money, the founding fathers...
Remember Cougar fan, if the Utes had had their 2008 season back in 1984, then...
Tim Tebow in the post-game interview: Alabama is a "...classy program,...
I first heard about GB in March, 2009. I heard he was on FNC. I have been...
Fox has but one goal. To demonize the left by talking about the left again,...



