Michael Furrey of the Detroit Lions stopped by Eisenhower High School in Shelby Township on Nov. 8 to assist in the Mountain of Food canned food drive taking place throughout the area. Furrey signed autographs and shot some hoops with the attendees, and is pictured here with local businessman Rick Young, who is coordinating the efforts. Source photo by Chris Williams

Furrey stopped by Eisenhower High School in Shelby Township on Nov. 8 to observe a free-throw contest and sign autographs for residents dropping off canned food. The event was part of the Mountain of Food campaign, a local effort by 40 schools throughout the state to collect funds and canned goods for the Detroit Rescue Mission.

“I thought that for a first-year project, it was a decent turnout,” said local businessman Rick Young, whose is helping to coordinate the effort. “The kids who came out did a wonderful job.”

At the event, participants were sponsored for shooting free throws in the Eisenhower gym, and local residents were encouraged to come, enjoy music and food, and drop off their canned goods, empty cans and monetary donations. Furrey showed up for photographs and to sign autographs before sticking around to shoot some hoops with the local kids.

“That guy is a wonderful human being,” said Young. “He’s so unassuming. He could be your next-door neighbor.”

Furrey, whose community foundation is also cooperating in the effort, said he was happy to help out.

“It’s in Rick’s heart the same as mine. Rick and I both feel that we’ve been blessed with our situations in life and we want to give that back,” Furrey said. “It’s just about giving back and helping others. It’s something dear to my heart.”

Young said final estimates were still being tallied, but that more than 2,000 canned goods were estimated to have been collected and approximately $17,200 in monetary donations were received through the free-throw contest. He said he has already begun to receive word from other schools in the Detroit area that several thousand other canned items have been received in the contest as well, which will continue through December, with the winning school receiving a special prize from Furrey along with monetary scholarships.

Furrey will also visit the Hamlin Pub at 25 Mile Road and Van Dyke on Nov. 17, from 7 to 9 p.m. A portion of all sales that evening will be donated to the food drive.

“We’re over 40 high schools participating now and we still keep hearing from them. We’ve gone way beyond our goal of participation,” said Young. “And it’s going to be bigger and better next year. I’m more than excited, especially because we’ve all learned so much this year that we can put into practice when we do it again.”