Issue date: 4/7/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Claire Padgett Junior Computer engineering major Bikrum Singh Jolly, Senior marketing major Matt Jenson and Senior economics major Terry Martin set up carts and bins for the food Tent City food donation in the Union on Monday April 5. [Click to enlarge]

Sacramento State's Rotaract Club, in partnership with the Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region, organized a massive canned food drive program on April 3 to benefit Sacramento's most needy residents and break a world record for food collection.

Twenty-three local businesses and campus organizations are participating in the U-Can Food Drive, including Campbell's Soups, Save Mart Supermarkets, Loaves and Fishes and The Home Depot.

After gathering in the University Union on Monday, U-Can Food Drive organizers and students delivered carts and blue drums to locations throughout the campus with the hope of collecting 400,000 pounds of non-perishable food. Organizers said they hope to inspire the community to help those in need.

Associated Students, Inc., passed a resolution in support of the canned food drive on March, but voted down a measure to finance the club's Guinness World Record application fee. Instead, three of the drive's organizers paid the $595 entry fee out of their own pocket.

According to Guinness, the current record holder is the Canadian city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, with approximately 196 tons of food collected in 24 hours. Guinness officials gave the food drive organizers one week to collect at least 200 tons of food during for their attempt, Paul Dickey, senior business major, said.

Sonya Logman, senior international marketing major, said one goal of the canned food drive is to inspire other universities and communities to participate in the project, or even to start food drives of their own to help the needy. Logman said the program's name, "U-CAN," means "Universities Can."

"Helping out your neighbors is good when it comes from the heart," she said.

Some ASI officials urged the group to postpone its collection so they could have more time to spread the word. Dickey said the international attention Sacramento received regarding Tent City spurred the drive's organizers to move up the timetable to raise awareness of not only homelessness, but to show that students take a genuine interest in the well-being of fellow residents -- even if the group comes up short on the record attempt.

Originally focused on the people of Tent City, organizers broadened their scope to include not only the homeless, but also the city's most needy people, who are near homelessness. At that point, Dickey said, a person left with few choices: "commit crime... or hurt themselves in the worst way possible."

"It may not be the record, but we need to show that we care. Even if we don't make the record, the most important thing is to take action; get some food out there," he said. "The last thing I want to read about on Easter Sunday is that someone hurt their family because they did not have enough food," he said.

Organizers are reaching out to the community through television interviews, advertising campaigns, community partnerships and a Facebook page which boasts 339 friends. The Highway 50 sign near campus will advertise the food drive throughout the week.

Acting on behalf of the student government during the drive, ASI Executive Vice President Roberto Torres said the world record attempt was not his main motivation for getting involved in the project. He feels students should take the initiative to help those who are less fortunate, since Sac State is where leadership begins, he said.

"It's a challenge to help our community," Torres said. "There's that mentality of 'I go to school, and I go to work,' That's it... the people in Tent City are our neighbors, possibly our students; if every student brought in one can, that would be 29,000 cans."

Dickey said the attempt at this record would at least "show people we care in the common spirit of helping others."

"We're trying to pull everyone together, regardless of religion, regardless of organization, to help people," he said.

The U-Can Food Drive runs through Friday. All food taken in during the drive will be donated to Loaves and Fishes and the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services.

Canned Food Donation Sites:


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Ben Schilter can be reached at bschilter@statehornet.com.

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