It was Tuesday evening when State College Food Bank Executive Director Allayn Beck noticed the surge in donations.
Contributions had been steady throughout the day — it was Giving Tuesday, after all — but this was something different: a sudden wave of donations from far-flung locales around the country, many of them for the same, very specific amount.
Beck quickly learned from a friend that a social media post urged BYU fans to donate in a magnanimous gesture of goodwill after Penn State tried and failed to sign their school’s well-loved head football coach, Kalani Sitake.
“It was just wild last night watching my email inbox,” Beck said. “It’s just a big surprise and really heartwarming and humbling that a community that’s not even ours is pouring love and support into us.”
By noon on Tuesday, the effort had resulted in 142 donations totaling $4,862, which Beck said is enough for the food bank to provide one to two weeks of groceries for nearly 500 people. And donations were still coming in through Wednesday afternoon.
“That’s a big impact for us,” Beck said. “And we’re serving quite a few people right now, especially this time of year with everything happening with SNAP and the holidays coming. This time of year is always the busiest time for us.”
The outpouring generated from a social media post by BYU alum and podcaster Garrett McClintock. When what looked to be the likelihood that Sitake would leave for Penn State turned into an extension for the coach to stay at BYU, one of McClintock’s listeners made the suggestion that he send out the call for Cougar supporters to donate to a food bank in State College — an act of generosity and sportsmanship.
The dollar amount suggested, and which many chose to give, was $30.17, representing the 30-17 score of BYU’s victory over Penn State the last time they met on the gridiron in 1992.
“I’m kind of shocked at how wild it’s grown,” McClintock told StateCollege.com. “I thought it might get some but I didn’t realize that it would get as much as it has… It’s pretty humbling to even just hear that our little corner of the Internet could make such a big difference for so many people.”
It helped that McClintock had already garnered attention earlier in the day with a viral post about a playful troll of Penn State Athletic Director Pat Kraft. McClintock had a box of Crumbl cookies delivered to Kraft at the Athletic Administration Building —a nod to the company’s BYU-fan founder Jason McGowan who, after news of Penn State’s pursuit of Sitake became public, rallied support and wrote on X that it “sounds like it is time for me to get off the sidelines and get to work.”
But the groundwork for the State College Food Bank donations had long been in place.
“Starting with when we played Tennessee in 2019, the school has started trying to do local service projects at every away game that they go to,” said McClintock, a 2015 BYU grad who now lives in the Phoenix area.
Led by local BYU Alumni chapters, the “Cougs Care” program holds food, clothing and book drives in each away-game community.
McClintock was thrilled to see that a more spontaneous effort and a little bit of online fun turned into meaningful giving.
“It was extremely humbling… Food banks can always find ways to put things to work and make sure it doesn’t go wasted and that people are taken care of,” he said.
Many of the donations, Beck said, were accompanied by heartfelt notes. Some of her favorites:
- “Stay fed. Go Cougs! May we meet again in battle someday.”
- “All love to Penn State and the local community here from BYU Nation.”
- “Thanks for letting us keep him!”
- “Good luck Penn State in your coaching search!”
- “BYU fan with a lot of respect for Penn State. Go Cougs. Go Penn State.”
- “We kept our coach, but genuinely hoping to spread some goodwill despite your loss. Love, BYU Fans.”
- “From a BYU fan. Hope PSU finds a great Head Coach!!”
For Penn State fans, whose program’s coaching search was in its 52nd day on Wednesday, it also provided a bit of a silver lining. And for the food bank, Beck hopes the effort is an inspiration to others.
“Maybe it can be a motivator for others,” Beck said. “Like, if someone who doesn’t even live in the same state is willing to help support our community, maybe our Penn State fans can come to our aid, too.”
