The rivalry and competition associated with the "Brawl of the Wild" - the yearly football showdown between the University of Montana and Montana State University - generates more than taunting and practical jokes.

For years, student organizations have capitalized on the cross-state rivalry to bring about goodwill by attempting to outdo the rival school in blood donations or food collections.

"A lot of people like to get into the spirit of the Griz-Cat challenge," said Julie Brehm, donor recruitment representative for the Missoula chapter of the American Red Cross. "It's an opportunity for people who can't be on the football field to participate in other ways."

The Brawl of the Wild Blood Drive challenge is in its fourth year. UM and MSU host a two-day blood drive on campus and the school that collects the most units of blood is declared the winner, receiving a traveling trophy and bragging rights.

"We see a lot of first-time donors," said Brehm on Wednesday, the last day of the blood drive. "The enthusiasm brings them out."

At the beginning of the day, UM was ahead of MSU after seeing 96 donors. Last year, each school collected about 200 units of blood for patients in need.

The 10th annual "Can the Cats" food drive is winding down. The annual food drive competition generates thousands of pounds of canned goods for food shelters in Missoula and Bozeman. Last year, MSU stomped UM by generating 7,000 more pounds of food than the Grizzlies. In fact, it's questionable whether UM has ever won the friendly competition, said Ashley Widtfeldt, campus corps team leader in the UM Office of Civic Engagement.

"Everyone loves competition," she said. "Competition makes something more fun. The necessity of a food drive is always there, but attached to a game helps spread the word."

On Thursday afternoon, members of the University of Montana Greek system will be going door-to-door collecting food for the "Can the Cats" food drive. All food items are delivered to the Missoula Food Bank. Collection will continue through Saturday, Nov. 21.

So far, UM has collected 1,443 pounds of food - a long way off last year's benchmark of 4,000 pounds.

MSU supporters will be collecting food at the game on Saturday, which will produce a lot of canned items, Widtfeldt said. In Missoula, drop-off boxes are located at Grizzly Grocery, Rosauers, the South Avenue Market gas station, in every UM residence hall and at The Source in the University Center.

Also on Thursday, 16 members of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity will take off for Bozeman - by foot! The fraternity is running the 201 miles to Bozeman from Missoula to raise money for the Watson Children's Shelter. Several fraternity alums and members of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority will help out with the biennial event.

Colin McLean, Sigma president, expects the run to take 48 hours - leaving Washington-Grizzly Stadium at 1 p.m. on Thursday and running continuously until arriving Saturday at Bobcat Stadium at around 9 a.m. Saturday. With a team of 21 members, McLean suspects that every person will have to run four miles during every four-hour shift.

So far, the men have raised about $1,000 in pledges and donations. Fundraising will continue even after the men have crossed the finish line. Anyone interested should contact McLean at colin.mclean@umontana.edu.

For those driving east in the next couple days, look to the shoulder of Interstate 90 for a van with its hazard lights flashing - a sign that it's the Sigma fraternity. They can't promise they'll be running, "but we'll be moving down the road," McLean said.

Reporter Chelsi Moy can be reached at 523-5260 or at chelsi.moy@missoulian.com.