SARNIA -- How can one person donate 1,000 pounds of food to help the hungry?

Just ask Mary Jean Wallace, who did just that yesterday after a 99-second mad dash through Mike's No Frill's grocery store here.

The $1,500 shopping spree was part of the Junior Achievement Great Grocery Race, sponsored by both the store, and 99.9 the Fox radio station.

"My first instinct was to give it away," said the mother of three. "Our family is already so blessed."

So she contacted the Inn of the Good Shepherd, just in time for its annual Thanksgiving food drive.

"We were thrilled," said executive director Myles Vanni, noting that the goal this year is 35,000 to 40,000 pounds of food -- the average amount they go through each month these days. "Boy, is she going to have a big impact; this will help a lot of people."

Even store owner Mike MacNeil got in on the giving.

He pre-filled several carts full of goods -- specifically items the Inn is in need of most -- and raced through the store with Wallace the whole way.

"It blew my mind that she was going to do this," he said. "So we wanted to help out as much as we could."

It total, Wallace racked up hundreds of dollars worth of baby formula, chicken, pork and beef, two full carts of potatoes and vegetables along with several cases of pasta.

"It was hectic," said Wallace. "I was huffing and puffing by the time I got around the store."

The event was a first for Junior Achievement, and program manager Marci Palframan said it couldn't have gone better.

"We couldn't believe it when she asked if she could donate her prize," said Palframan. "It's really amazing.

Tickets were sold in the summer, with proceeds going to support Junior Achievement's free programs for elementary and high school students.

"I didn't think in a million years I'd win the prize," said Wallace. "I just bought a ticket to support the organization."

Her family moved here just last year, and she couldn't think of a better way to get involved with a new community.

"It's something my husband and I have always tried to teach our children about," said Wallace. "And that's what this is all about, really -- helping each other any little way we can."