The Hopelink food bank in Redmond will receive a sizable donation this week thanks to the kindergartners at Albert Einstein Elementary School.

Each of the four classes had been collecting canned food items since the beginning of the school year with the goal of collecting 100 items by the 100th day of school, which was Feb. 22, for a goal of 400 items total.

Kindergarten teacher Mary Locke said each class surpassed this goal and they collected more than 600 items, about 200 more than they collected last year. The items will be brought to the food bank Friday afternoon.

In addition to teaching the students about community service, Locke said they incorporated the food drive into their curriculum. She and her fellow kindergarten teachers used the items to teach students how to count up to 100 and sort the items by 10.

“It’s a great way to inspire them to count to 100,” Locke said.

The food drive also created a friendly competition among the classrooms as they tried to out collect each other. Locke said each class would share how many items they collected on a daily basis and this would inspire the other classes to bring in more food.

“(The students) were so excited,” she said.

This is the second year they have done the food drive and Locke said they will probably make it an annual project.