Tonight, high school students will roam Mandan neighborhoods looking for some handouts.

It's not a trick, and they're not looking for treats. Members of the Mandan High School DECA and Family, Career and Community Leaders in America chapters will be looking for nonperishable food for the food pantry at AID Inc. They will be out tonight and Thursday night.

"We're helping out the community by filling the pantry," senior Brittany Schock said. "By doing this, hopefully it is a big help to them."

She is a member of FCCLA, a student group for students in family and consumer science classes. The organization is in its second year at Mandan High. It teamed up with DECA, a student club for business-minded students. Both clubs have a focus on community service.

"Each organization stresses community service," DECA adviser Amber Aberle said. "It's nice to do a project on this large of a scale."

Aberle and FCCLA adviser Kayla Kakela came up with the idea of a joint project over the summer. Since then, it's the students who have organized it. The students lined up sponsors, advertising and drop-off locations for the food. They also organized who will be out collecting food from 5 to 7 each night.

The project will be the basis for projects at state and possibly national competitions for both organizations. The DECAstudents will create a written report and a presentation, and the FCCLA students will create a speech and visual presentation.

During the school year, students in each club prepare for competitions at state, and the top performers move on to the national competition. For FCCLA, the national competition is in Orlando, Fla., and for DECA, the national competition is in Atlanta.

Students join the clubs with an eye toward college applications and because of friends. They also see it meeting a future need.

"In college, I want to do something in business, and I thought this would help a lot," sophomore and DECA member Katie Kupper said.

Schock wants to be a nurse or veterinarian, and sees the leadership skills she learns in FCCLA helping her in college and her career.

For the food drive, the students hope to gather 1,000 items of food. In addition to the food collections, items can be dropped off at Ressler Chevrolet Subaru and the Mandan locations of Dakota Community Bank and Central Market.

Many of the students will be dressed up in orange T-shirts bright enough to reflect moonlight and headlights. The items that they will go door-to-door to collect should not be expired.

"We're just trying to get as much as we can," sophomore Sadie Berger said.

This will hopefully be the start of an annual project, Aberle said. Next year, she would like to get Bismarck and University of Mary chapters involved. The DECA and FCCLA chapters also want to find a community service project for the spring.