As part of Greek life's Homecoming Week competition, organizations donated more than 5,000 cans to the Athens County Food Pantry.
Many students drive around campus with maybe a few textbooks bouncing around in the back seat and a half-eaten sandwich on the dashboard. In comparison, Tuesday, the sisters of Alpha Omicron Pi drove over to Konneker Alumni Center with almost a thousand cans filling the car, according to the Student Alumni Board's Vice President of Student Outreach Allison Zullo.
Pack the Pantry, run by the Student Alumni Board with partnership from Greek life, was held at the alumni center Tuesday, where members of Greek life donated 5,774 cans of food to the Athens County Food Pantry, according to Amanda Moline, a junior studying strategic communication and the vice president of philanthropy for the Student Alumni Board.
Pack the Pantry is an annual food drive for all students to participate in during Homecoming Week, but this year was the first time a separate food drive was held for members of Greek life, according to Katrina Heilmeier, the associate director of campus relations and the advisor for the Student Alumni Board. Greek life members could donate from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. to participate in the competition.
Heilmeier said as part of the Greek organizations' Homecoming competition, the different teams of fraternities and sororities — each named after a young adult book series — dropped off canned food.
Tim Clark, a freshman studying sport management, dropped off 15 cans in the box representing Beta Theta Pi, the fraternity he’s rushing. He said he knows a lot of other members were dropping off cans, too.
“I’m happy to do it, it’s for a great cause,” Clark said.
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The Greek teams compete to bring in the most cans. The Student Alumni Board has a plaque for the winning team, which will also be recognized at the Yell Like Hell Pep Rally on Thursday. Additionally, bringing in a certain amount of cans awards the fraternities and sororities points for the competition, Heilmeier said.
As of press time, there was no announced winner.
Mannah Charles, a sophomore studying biological sciences, said he was dropping off cans he bought at a campus market with hopes that his fraternity, Acacia, donates the most.
“We all are (donating), we're all trying to pitch in,” Charles said. “We definitely are a competitive group, I’m not gonna lie about that.”
Mim Almquist, a food committee co-chair for the Athens County Food Pantry, said the pantry gives out 130 packages of food weighing 25 pounds each to families in the county weekly.
“There’s such a need in Athens County,” Almquist said. “There’s just people that are hungry. This is just one way to try to help.”
Kyle Adams, a freshman studying history and a pledge of Phi Gamma Delta, dropped off three cans of soup, but he said winning the competition isn’t the most important thing.
“Regardless of who wins, it’s a good thing for the community for everyone to be dropping off cans and helping,” Adams said. “So long as someone wins and we bring in a lot of cans, that's all that really matters.”
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