Bekky Hobson’s van might have arrived empty in front of Baker Center on Tuesday, but by the time she parked it for the evening, there was no space at all.
Hobson, an Americorps worker for Athens County Children’s Services, carried 16,732 cans of food to the Children’s Services building, 18 Stonybrook Dr. The cans flooded Baker’s third floor as a part of Greek Week, the weeklong celebration and competition among OU’s 31 fraternities and sororities.
“I’m extremely proud of this,” Hobson said. “I cannot wait to show everyone how much food we got.”
Students brought cans to Baker’s third floor from noon to 2 p.m. Tuesday, and the Office of Greek Life and several volunteers separated the cans into plastic bags to bring to Children’s Services.
The Greek organizations were divided into nine teams, and the top three teams that collected the most cans will get reserved seating at the Air Bands Event in the Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium on Wednesday, said Kristen Kardas, assistant director for Greek Life.
The Office of Greek Life set up buckets for students to contribute pennies, and the team that rakes in the most penny points will choose an organization to donate the total collected to.
The theme of Greek Week is “Greeks hit the streets,” with each of the nine teams named after cities. The team that collected the most cans will be announced at an award ceremony next Monday.
Students bagged the food as a part of Children’s Services backpack program, in which the organization gives to elementary students who qualify for the free or reduced lunch programs, Hobson said.
About 75 percent of the children who attend Trimble County Schools and Federal Hocking Local Schools qualify for free or reduced lunch, she said, so they likely go weekends without eating and often rely on school lunchtime for a meal.
Hobson said this drive was the biggest she’s seen, and that it will significantly help children in Athens County.
“I don’t know if I’ve allocated enough shelves for this,” she said of all the cans collected Tuesday.
The drive might be the largest for OU Greek Life as well. The nine teams collected more than three times the amount they collected last year, when they brought in 5,786, said Char Kopchick, assistant dean of students for campus programs.
In preparation for the drive, Sigma Kappa President Alex Kreutler, a junior studying organizational communication, packed her car with 750 cans, purchased with money collected from her chapter, to contribute to Team New Orleans, which collected a total of about 1,500.
“We do a lot of work around the Athens community in general, so any way we can help out donating any kind of food is just great for our chapter and helps build our morale, so we love giving back,” Kreutler said.
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