Spring break provided a bountiful harvest for organizers of a Sacramento State food drive April 3-10. With tent cities for the homeless as their inspiration, students and other supporters collected about 7,500 pounds of canned goods and other non-perishable items.
The U-Can Food Drive initially started out as a campus effort, organized by the University’s Rotaract club in partnership with the Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region. It soon grew to encompass other community groups such as Loaves and Fishes and the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services.
“We wanted to get everyone involved,” says Joseph Ross, a Sacramento State senior and member of The Rotaract club.
He and senior Michael Buniak came up with the idea of having a canned food drive. They were joined by another student, Paul Dickey, who had the same idea but suggested targeting efforts to specifically help homeless families living in tent cities that have sprung up in recent months around the Sacramento area.
The effort received great support from the University and beyond, Ross says, adding that a mass e-mailing by President Alexander Gonzalez helped publicize the project.
Collected food was given to Loaves and Fishes and the Food Bank for distribution to the area’s homeless and families on the brink of homelessness, Ross says.
About the writer:
Sacramento State’s Craig Koscho can be reached at ckoscho@csus.edu
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