By Jordan Gross, Features Editor

It is not often that school rivals unite to support a common cause. This year, however, the Key Club’s second annual Hoops for Hunger 24 Hour Basketball Tournament, involving Reynolds, Mount Tabor and Bishop McGuinness high schools, will combine students from across the community in a popular sporting event to raise money for children in Africa.

The three Key Clubs have teamed up for Hoops for Hunger, which will be held in Bryson Gym at the start of spring break. The 24 hours will begin Wednesday at 7 p.m. and continue into Thursday. The game will be ongoing between students from the three schools, with boys playing first in a 12-hour shift, girls playing second, and the guys closing out the event from about 3 to 7.

The tournament raises money for Stop Hunger Now, an international hunger relief agency out of Raleigh that provides meals to children in Africa as well as 76 other developing countries. The donations from this tournament will allow children to get an education rather than spend their days working for food. As each meal Stop Hunger Now provides costs only 25 cents, the tournament is expected to contribute immensely.

Money is raised through donations from local businesses as well as by some players getting sponsored; for instance, if someone pledges a dollar for every point scored during the night. Proceeds from T-shirt sales also go to the charity, and extra shirts may be for sale to spectators.

Fans can’t spend the night at Bryson Gym, but are encouraged to show their support for a few hours when the event tips off Wednesday night and again Thursday afternoon and evening as it comes to a close.

Any student from Reynolds, Mount Tabor or Bishop McGuinness was allowed to  sign up to play in the tournament for service hours.

To learn more about Stop Hunger Now, visit stophungernow.org . To receive details for the tournament, follow @hoopsforhunger1 on Twitter.