Suffolk Christian Fellowship Center will have a food drive during the month of September for Hunger Action Month.

But it won’t just be any food drive, said Lorna Slaughter. The church’s food pantry will collect food with a “Hunger Games”-themed food drive contest.

Slaughter is calling on offices, schools, churches, nonprofits and other groups to challenge each other to raise the most food during the month of September. The deadline to register is Aug. 31.

“This is an opportunity for coworkers, students, to come together and have a passion for helping those in need,” Slaughter said. “I need this to be a community effort, because we are all responsible for one another.”

Slaughter said she hopes the contest will help the pantry get a jump start on the holiday. She said a regular food drive wasn’t going to be enough for her.

“We still wanted to engage the community,” she said. “We wanted to give them an opportunity to challenge themselves as well.”

Slaughter said the food pantry at Suffolk Christian Fellowship Center has seen more people lately using the pantry to meet their ongoing need for food, not just on a temporary basis.

“We’ve felt the brunt of that,” she said. “We want to elevate the conversation of what’s going on in our city. There is hunger, and we need those hunger relief efforts to be taken seriously. That is why I’m reaching out to the community as a whole.”

Slaughter said last week that five diverse entities — including a church, a business and an athletic team — had already registered.

“We want to harness that and get more people on board,” she said.

Slaughter has a lofty goal — 100,000 pounds of food.

“We need all that can do to do it,” she said. “We have great support so far.”

Slaughter said organizations can call 353-0471 for more information.

“Unleash your competitive streak and let’s see,” she said. “It’s not about winning or losing, because everyone that participates is a winner — they heard the call and they answered.”