24-hour Union food drive helps Hoosier Hills

When the Indiana Memorial Union dining staff begins collecting cans today, they will be doing more than just trying to break a world record.

They will be sending thousands of pounds of food to the Hoosier Hills Food Bank just in time for the holiday season.

Retail Operations Director Steve Richards from IMU dining services said that though it would be nice to break the Guinness world record for the most pounds of food collected in 24 hours, the goal of the day is to help people by donating to Hoosier Hills.

“Everybody wins in this,” he said. “It is about raising awareness and helping people.”

Sodexo Inc., the main food supplier for the Union, is partnering with Union dining services on this drive, called Helping Hands Across America.

In order to factor into the record, which is totaled up from colleges all over the country, all food has to be collected in a 24-hour period.

Because some restaurants in the IMU are not open all day, donation times vary.

“Since Kiva is a lunch spot we will probably start it at 1 p.m. and go until 1 p.m. the next day,” Richards said.

Sodexo Public Relations Manager Greg Yost said this program is in its fourth year and that every year the total increases.

Last year, colleges across the country combined to donate more than 380,000 pounds of food, including 5,000 at IU-Bloomington.

“We are looking to get around 500,000 pounds this year,” Yost said. “It certainly is a lofty goal and it would be awesome to break the record, but this is really about lending a helping hand.”

The Hoosier Hills Food Bank will be adding to their stocks right before their busiest time of year.

Charlotte Walker, resource development coordinator for the food bank, said that when drives like this don’t occur the bank is forced to spend its budget on the food itself.

“The holidays bring an increased demand, and without organizations like these, it would be hard to meet our needs,” she said.