Bonney Lake High School is hosting its annual Pack the Gym night Wednesday to support Special Olympics basketball teams and local food banks.

Thirty-five Olympians will showcase their individual talents and compete in a full team match-up beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Panther gym.

“Our program has been so fortunate to have fantastic support in the past and we are looking forward to the biggest event yet,” wrote special education teacher and Special Olympic Coach Shena Mouring in an email to supporters. “(And it’s) just a few short days before the team leaves for the Winter Olympic Games in Wenatchee.”

The basketball exhibition will include halftime entertainment from the Panther cheerleaders, dance team and band.

Admission is free, but the school requests canned food for the food banks. The event has been a boon for donations, filling a truck each of the past two years, wrote Mouring.

Each Special Olympian is either a grade 6-12 student in Sumner School District or enrolled in the district’s Community Transition Program. The program’s mission is to prepare special needs students — aged 22 or younger — for independent living through training in employment readiness and life skills.