The spirit of the Olympic Games hit one family in Utah and has left a ripple seven years long.
The spirit prompted members of the Buie family to do something special this year as the Winter Games comes to their home state.
What they have planned doesn't have to do with sports ? but it has everything to do with the people of Utah.
To that end, Landon, 17, and Eliza, 22, and their mother, Jane, spent time this month at the Utah Food Bank to promote their food drive titled, "Let's Show the World We Care and Build a Mountain of Food as High as our Utah Mountains." It is aimed at Wasatch Front high schools during February to "show what the youth of Utah can do," Landon said.
The Buies agree the spirit of the Olympics can be felt in many ways.
"It's about service," Landon said.
He and his family have been busy since last summer organizing the food drive. Many schools already hold their own drives, but this time they're working together.
Landon's own school of Taylorsville collected more than 80,000 cans in a week during its November drive. Landon hopes to get at least that much this month. The more cans, the higher the mountain they can build and the more people will be helped.
Each student council from involved high schools along the Wasatch Front is planning how it will collect more cans than the next school ? Taylorsville and Woods Cross are each planning class competitions, Bountiful is selling candy grams and using the money for the drive, Clearfield is making it a competition between school clubs, and West Jordan hopes to take back its reign of collecting the most food back after losing it two years ago.
The food drive runs through Feb. 22.
The enthusiasm is overwhelming to Food Bank workers and city officials.
"They have so much energy and initiative," said Rod Miller, Food Bank development director. "They have fun with it."
"It's often the young people who have the wisdom and the guts to do this," Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson said Saturday. "What a great inspiration this is. Thank you for taking such a great leadership role."
Buie family members all credit each other with the rise of the project. But it's probably just their Olympic pride talking ? a pride that will likely not fade after February.
"I've been able to feel this Olympic spirit for a long time," Eliza said.
It all started when she was 14. She and 14 other children who won an essay contest were chosen as ambassadors for Salt Lake City in Hungary during the Olympic bid for 2002.
When Salt Lake City was announced, "we were so excited, we were jumping around," she said. They realized it wouldn't be until they were much older that the Olympics would actually come to Utah.
Her brother followed in her footsteps. When Landon was in seventh grade he, too, became an Olympic ambassador through an essay contest. His prize was a trip to Los Angeles to meet Olympians returning from Japan and to bring the Olympic flag to Salt Lake City.
The Olympic spirit lived on. But the family doesn't have to travel far for the Olympics this year. Eliza and her mother, Jane, were selected to carry the torch downtown on Thursday in front of the courthouse, with Landon running along side them.
"I couldn't ask for better kids," Jane Buie said.
E-MAIL: ckennington@desnews.com