3,100 pounds of food collected

After junior Justin Haney ordered his drink at the Indiana Memorial Union Starbucks Wednesday, he walked away with coffee and two cans of golden corn.\nHe kept the coffee for himself, but dropped the cans of corn into a food donation box at the register. Haney is just one of many IU students making contributions to the Cans Across America Food Drive.\nFrom 5 p.m. Tuesday to 5 p.m. Wednesday, IMU Dining Services and Sodexho, a food and facilities service, collected cans with the goal of breaking a Guinness World Record. This is the second year the IMU and Sodexho have participated in Cans Across America, a nation-wide initiative to stop hunger. \nSodexho campuses across the country collect canned food for one day and attempt to break the current world record for the largest food drive by a non-charitable organization in a 24-hour period. \nWhile the Regina and District Food Bank in Saskatchewan, Canada, currently holds the world record with 221,028 pounds of food collected in 24 hours, the IMU and Sodexho hope to top this. \n“Cans Across America is one way we came up with as a company to rally the troops,” said Steve Mangan, general manager of IMU Diving Services. “We get to try to break a world record and we’re having fun with it.” \nAfter beating its goal of 2,500 pounds of food last year, the IMU doubled this year’s goal to 5,000 pounds, Mangan said. According to IMU personnel counting the cans Wednesday evening, the Union brought in more than 3,100 pounds of food.\nDonation buckets were located at all IMU dining locations, the Cyber Cafe at the Herman B Wells Library and the food kiosk in the Education Building. While some donors brought cans from home, many purchased two cans for $1 at drop-off locations. \nSophomore Megan Johnston did not know about the can drive until a Starbucks barista at the IMU asked her if she wanted to purchase cans to donate. \n“I had never heard about it before but I took part in a lot of can drives in high school so I know that it is appreciated,” Johnston said. “I think it’s a really great activity for IU.” \nAt the end of 24 hours, Mangan, Bruce Jacobs, IMU interim executive director and Dean of Students Dick McKaig will weigh the cans and complete paperwork so the IMU’s weight can join other Sodexho campuses. Mangan said it could take a week or more to find out if the IMU helped Sodexho set a new world record. \nAfter being weighed, counted and recorded, the cans will be delivered to the Hoosier Hills Food Bank. \n“We have a tremendous need for food in our community,” said Julio Alonso, Hoosier Hills executive director. “We have distributed the most food in our history this year. We need as much as possible.”