This past week, the Marching Virginians participated in the 26th annual Hokies for the Hungry, a week-long canned food drive and donation competition that benefits the Montgomery County Christmas Store. The Montgomery County Christmas Store serves low income families in the New River Valley area, providing non-perishable food and other useful items during the holiday season.
HOKIES FOR THE HUNGRY
The different sections of the MVs compete in can collection, seeing who can bring in the most amount of items every single day. Bonus items are announced for each day, tripling points for certain items. Thousands of cans of food were counted every single day, to be loaded on a truck at the end of rehearsal. Many amazing members of this organization volunteered to count and load the cans, preparing for our big shipment on Sunday. This year, the winners of the can competition was our amazing horn section, bringing in the highest average amount of cans per person!
Two managers counting cans during the concert on Friday! (Source: Callie Ayala)
Hokies for the Hungry has its biggest day on Saturday, before game day. The band was split into seven smaller bands, designated to certain locations to play for tailgaters. Tailgaters can donate money to hear their favorite song, with some songs being worth up to $200! This is another opportunity to collect cans as well, adding to the final donation right before Sunday.
Alongside the can donation war, monetary donations are collected throughout the week. Social media was plastered with photos and graphics, successfully raising thousands of additional dollars for the Montgomery County Christmas Store.
Halftime and Alumni Day
VTubas and Alumni doooo the Hokie Pokie! (Source: HokieSports)
Today was Alumni Day for the Marching Virginians! Alumni Band Day is an opportunity for alumni from the Marching Virginians to come back and perform with the band at halftime. People who have moved away and graduated a long time ago get to come back and have an amazing day with our current members. Hundreds of Alumni got to the MVC bright and early, and were able to relive their college days in rehearsal with their section. Active members of the MVs got to catch up with their older friends, reminiscing on the time spent with them years ago.
Alumni Band Day is an amazing opportunity to stay involved with the Marching Virginians after you finish your time at Virginia Tech. It truly is great to get to know the people who came before you in this wonderful organization.
The Game
WR #11 Tucker Holloway goes all the way with a 90 yd punt return! (Source: HokieSports)
Initially down after the first quarter, the Hokies effectively rallied with 20 points in the second quarter! Through the last two quarters, both the Hokies and the Yellow Jackets were neck and neck, until Georgia Tech was able to just squeak past Virginia Tech, and take home a win with a one-point lead. While this season has been rough on the Hokies and their fans, every week we see the team develop a little bit more, and for now, that’s all we can ask for. The Marching Virginians will always root for our team, no matter what!