Students from Nansemond River High’s Future Business Leaders of America club will host a car show at the school this Saturday to fight hunger.

The community service event, which will raise donations for the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore, will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Nansemond River student and club member Nikita Pella-Jones is spearheading the event. “She’s doing all the legwork,” said Jason Bartholomew, business education teacher and the club’s lead financial adviser.

“It was all her idea. Her dad has some background in doing car shows, and Nikita basically said, ‘I think we can do this,’ and I think she’s enlisted her father’s help in getting it out to the community.”

This particular show will take a unique approach to judging the best cars. Folks are asked to bring non-perishable food items, and they will vote for their favorite rides by placing donations in front of them.

The car with the biggest stack of food at the end of the event wins.

The entry fee for each car is either $5 or five non-perishable food items. There’s no need to pre-register, Bartholomew said.

Meanwhile, the club has been reaching out the business community for support in getting as many students as possible to the 2015 State Leadership Conference in Reston.

Nansemond River sent four students last year, and Bartholomew’s goal is to at least double that participation rate.

“Right now, we have at least 25 students that will hopefully compete at the regional level,” Bartholomew said.

Because the school district has no funding to offer, students are obliged to fundraise or reach out to the business community, he said.

In August, Bartholomew said, the club called on North Suffolk Rotary.

“Me and the (FBLA) club president went to the Rotary organization and made a presentation, and said, ‘Hey, we’d like to create a relationship with you,’” he said.

“I wanted to create a relationship between the students in the school trying to learn business, and those in the community who know business. For me, as an adviser, it was more important than just money.”

Josh West, president of the Rotary club, visited Nansemond River on Tuesday to present the FBLA club with a check for $600.

Bartholomew said it would be a big help in funding the trip to Reston.