GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – They usually spend their evenings filling the net and pumping their fists in celebration. But on Wednesday, March 2, Grand Rapids Griffins players will fill tanks and pump fuel as part of the team’s second annual Pumping Gas fundraiser at three local Marathon / J & H Family Stores locations.

The event, a benefit for Kids’ Food Basket, will feature more than a dozen Griffins players and mascots volunteering their time to pump gas for customer donations from 5-8 p.m. at three Marathon stations (all players and times subject to change):

Cottonwood Express – 8407 Cottonwood Dr., Jenison

• 5-6:30 p.m. – Travis Ehrhardt, Jordan Pearce, Griff
• 6:30-8 p.m. – Adam Keefe, Brent Raedeke

Plainfield Marathon – 2171 Plainfield NE, Grand Rapids

• 5-6:30 p.m. – Ilari Filppula, Francis Pare, Finn
• 6:30-8 p.m. – Sergei Kolosov, Brian Lashoff

Remembrance Marathon – 3434 Remembrance Rd. NW, Grand Rapids

• 5-6:30 p.m. – Greg Amadio, Jordan Owens
• 6:30-8 p.m. – Joakim Andersson, Brendan Smith, Griff

Each store will conduct a raffle for one Griffins team-autographed stick, four tickets to a Griffins game, and a $50 gas card.

Kids’ Food Basket is a force for attacking childhood hunger in greater Grand Rapids. Having begun over eight years ago by serving 125 kids each school day through their sack supper program, they now serve over 3,700 kids each day. Sack suppers are evening meals that provide 1,000 calories and five food groups – nutrition that’s critical to the development of kids’ brains and bodies. For more information, visit kidsfoodbasket.org.