IU to ‘can’paign for 24 hours

After almost two years of campaigning ended this week for the next U.S. president, a ‘can’paign is just getting started here in Bloomington.

Officially beginning Nov. 12, the Indiana Memorial Union Dining Services will participate in the Cans Across America Campaign, a canned food drive lasting 24 hours.

IU will join college campuses across the country to take part in this event and attempt to beat the Guinness World Record for most non-perishable food collected in a 24-hour period, said Steve Richards, retail operations director at the IMU.

Because the dining service locations are not open for 24 hours straight, barrels will be available for can collection beginning at 5 p.m Nov. 11.

Barrels will be placed in all IMU Dining Services locations, including the Herman B Wells Library and the Wright Education Building, and cans will be sold two for $1 at each location.

All cans collected will go to the Hoosier Hills Food Bank.

Cans Across America was first introduced to colleges in 2006 by the Sodexo Foundation in connection with the STOP Hunger initiative. The company also helps fight hunger by volunteering at food banks once a month and by other various events.

“We’re not looking for credit,” Richards said. “It’s a good thing to do.”

After collecting more than 2,400 pounds of food in 2006 and 3,600 pounds of food at last year’s drive, the goal this year has been raised to 5,000 pounds, with the average can weighing just less than 1 pound.

Currently, a group in Canada holds the Guinness record, but Cans Across America is looking to top it, Richards said. Though the drive will accept food items other than cans, Guinness does not count them toward the total weight.

When the 24-hour limit is up, the food is collected and weighed, and then Dean of Students Dick McKaig verifies the results by sending pictures and forms to Guinness.

There is a high demand for food right now, and Hoosier Hills is encouraging anyone to meet that need, said Julio Alonso, executive director of Hoosier Hills Food Bank.

Cans Across America is one of their biggest food drives of the year, and all of the donated items go to the 99 agencies in the community that Hoosier Hills serves, such as soup kitchens and food pantries.

The agencies select the food from the food bank that they need, and cans go fast.
“Canned food is really needed, It’s hard to keep on the shelf.” said Alonso.

Last year IU was ranked one of the top 10 schools with the most cans collected, and dining services is looking to top the list again. The canned food drive is a good way to get students involved in helping out their community Richards said.

“Students are socially conscious,” Richards said. “its gets everyone here excited.”

In the future, Sodexo hopes to get more on-campus societies involved with Cans
Across America, such as the Greek system and residence halls, Richards said.

Hoosier Hills and the agencies they serve depend on people in the community to donate and volunteer as much as they can.

“We definitely appreciate the support and effort that Sodexo and the Union put into the drive,” Alonso said. “It helps out both of us really.”