Foster Farms Bowl kicks off Wednesday night; fight against hunger is the winner

The Foster Farms Bowl has a winner already – the United Samaritans Foundation in Turlock, one of the anti-hunger groups benefiting from Wednesday night’s game.

Utah and Indiana will face off at 5:30 p.m. at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, the third straight year of sponsorship by the Livingston-based poultry company.

The bowl does not feature college football powers – the Utes are 8-4 and the Hoosiers 6-6 – but it does give Foster Farms national exposure via the Fox Sports telecast. It is the top-selling brand in the West but less known in other regions.

Part of the ticket proceeds will go to groups that feed people in need, including two in San Francisco where players helped serve Christmas Day meals.

Foster Farms is donating 2,700 pounds of chicken to United Samaritans, which provides food and other help to poor people in much of Stanislaus County.

Felisha Dias, 16, of Turlock will sing the national anthem before kickoff, following auditions by young singers in the Central Valley and Bay Area. As part of the contest, she got to choose United Samaritans for the donation.

The bowl each year pits teams from the Pac-12 and Big Ten, though not the conference champs. The 2016 teams took part in a Union Square pep rally and other pre-game events along with serving at St. Anthony’s Dining Room and the Glide food program.

It is the 15th year for an event that started in 2002 as the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl, sponsored by the Stockton-based nut processor. It later became the Emerald Bowl, the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl and the Fight Hunger Bowl.

This story was originally published December 27, 2016 at 5:26 PM with the headline "Foster Farms Bowl kicks off Wednesday night; fight against hunger is the winner."