Hunger Heroes of Tomorrow Essay Contest

The contest is open to writers in rising grades 10 through 12, up to age 18, will not have already graduated by September 2018. Entries may be submitted directly by the student, or by a teacher, parent, or legal guardian on behalf of the student. Students may submit only one essay. Teachers, parents, and guardians may submit unlimited entries on behalf of students, but not more than one essay for the same essay writer. Writers must attend a Southeastern Virginia or Eastern Shore high school in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Franklin and Virginia Beach or the counties of Southampton, Northampton, Sussex, Isle of Wight and Accomack.

• Each essay entry must begin with a title page containing: the title of the project and number of words, followed by the writer’s name, grade, name of school, email address, and phone number.
• Essays must be typewritten and 750 – 1500 words in length. Submissions that do not meet the minimum word requirement, or that exceed the maximum, may be disqualified.
• Spacing between lines should be at least 1.15, but no more than 2.0 (double-spaced). Font size may be 11 or 12 pt. only.
• Each page of the essay must be numbered starting with page 1 of the essay, not the title page. The numbers must be centered at the bottom of each page. At the top of page 1 should be the Project Title.
• Essays should be presented electronically in PDF format
  

The contest period begins on June 4, 2018 and ends on July 13, 2018. Essays must be submitted no later than 11:59 pm Eastern Time, July 13, 2018.

Essays must be submitted as a PDF attachment via email to lwilliamsrumbley@foodbankonline.org
The subject line of the email should read: 2018 Essay Contest Entry – “Student’s Name”

All essays must be the original work of the student whose name is listed on the submission form. Any quotations or copyrighted material used must be identified properly (such as in MLA format). Plagiarism will result in disqualification.

Essays will be judged on their ability to answer the topic questions in an articulate, clear, and organized manner, using research examples to support their analysis. Essay submissions will be evaluated by a panel of judges. Judges will be selected by the Foodbank based on their backgrounds and expertise in education, writing, and the subject matter. Decisions of the judges are final.

The ownership of any submission remains the property of the writer, but entry into the competition constitutes the entrant’s permission and consent, without compensation, with or without attribution, for the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore to use, reproduce, transmit, post, distribute, adapt, edit, and/or display the submission.

There will be monetary prizes awarded to the top three essays – $500 for first place; $250 for second place and; $100 for third place. The top 50 essay writers will be invited to attend our annual Elected Officials Engagement Day event this September. Attending students will participate in the “Food for A Week” hunger simulation and have an opportunity to participate in round-table discussions with elected officials and business leaders. One guest (student’s parent, legal guardian, or another adult chosen with the approval of the student’s parents/guardian) may accompany the first, second and third place winners of the contest. Winning essays will be selected and the winners will be notified in August. The writers of the top 50 essays will also receive invitations in August. More information will be shared as applicable with participating students, teachers and parents.