Student gov­ern­ment annual food drive helps Big Rapids’ fam­i­lies in need

The third annual stu­dent gov­ern­ment “Coming together for the hol­i­days” food drive hopes to gather 7,500 pounds of food to help fam­i­lies in need.

“Many fam­i­lies are strug­gling even more this year, com­pared to pre­vi­ous years,” said Liz Cottrell, stu­dent gov­ern­ment event cor­di­na­tor. “Even if you can only afford to donate a few cans of soup, that could help feed some­one for a day or so.”

The food drive, which gath­ered 6,100 pounds of food last year, will be held from Nov. 9 to Dec. 3 at 5 p.m. All pro­ceeds will go to Project Starburst and the greater Big Rapids area. According to Western Michigan Food Banks (WMFB), over 38 mil­lion Americans do not have enough to eat. WMFB is also antic­i­pat­ing a multi-million pound short­fall between the need for food and food inven­to­ries this year.

Students, fac­ulty, and res­i­dents can bring non-perishable food items to the stu­dent gov­ern­ment office, Rankin 121, on Nov. 20 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Rec Center, Timme Center, and FLITE will also have dona­tion boxes begin­ning Nov. 9. The music depart­ment will also assist the food drive by pro­vid­ing col­lec­tion boxes at their fall con­certs for the West Central Chamber Orchestra Nov. 22 at 4 p.m. and at the Band concert.

In addi­tion to mul­ti­ple dona­tion boxes, there are sev­eral res­i­dence halls, reg­is­tered stu­dent orga­ni­za­tions (RSO) and Greek orga­ni­za­tion com­pe­ti­tions. Student gov­ern­ment would also like to get fac­ulty and staff mem­bers involved to com­pete for their colleges.

“We want this to truly be a campus-wide food drive.” said Claire Gould, stu­dent gov­ern­ment president.

Applications for com­pet­ing are to be turned in to the stu­dent gov­ern­ment office Nov. 3 by 5 p.m. Late appli­ca­tions will be accepted the first day of the food drive.

The Black Greek Council, Interfraternity Council, Panhelienic coun­cil, the Residence Hall Assocation and the National Residence Hall Honorary will co-sponsor this project. To find out more about this event or to down­load com­pe­ti­tion appli­ca­tions, visit the “The Coming together for the Holidays” Facebook page or con­tact Liz Cottrell in the stu­dent gov­ern­ment office.

Additional Information

RSO com­pe­ti­tion prizes include: first place, cater­ing credit, sec­ond place, a $50 Meijer gift card, third place, Dominos Pizza Party with dona­tions from Dining Services, stu­dent gov­ern­ment and Dominos Pizza.

Residence Hall Prizes include: $200 for first place, $150 for sec­ond place and $100 for third place. Funds will be donated from RHA and NRHH. Greek Organization Prizes are $100 for first place, $70 for sec­ond and $30 for third with dona­tions from Panhel, IFC and BGC.