|
Halloween helping
Food drive nets 486 pounds in two hours
By Mark Insteness
Whalesong Contributor
On the chill evening
of Oct. 30th, the day before Halloween, challenging the elements
of fog and mist which was so thick you could cut it with a knife,
six UAS students set out to fulfill a mission which had been conceived
only two weeks before. The mission was to put a new face on Halloween
and to make a difference in the lives of a portion of the many needy
members of the Juneau community, by conducting a canned food drive
door-to-door, much like trick-or-treating.
Two weeks prior, during the Student Government meeting,
as ideas were being discussed concerning ways in which UAS could
contribute to the Juneau community, a recurring theme of the neediness
of people during the holidays surfaced. It was pointed out that
holidays are when the shelves of the local food banks are the emptiest
and so needed to be supported. This sparked an enthusiastic discussion,
which culminated in the decision to conduct a canned food drive
on the day before Halloween.
The food that was collected would be delivered to the
Southeast Alaska Food Bank where it would then be distributed to
those folks who could use it the most. Of major concern was the
transportation of the canned goods once they had been collected.
Tish Griffin, Director of Student Activities & Housing, was
able to contact Princess Tours, which immediately donated a bus
and driver to transport the crew and the canned goods. .
The day of the event arrived and the stage was set.
The crew was ready and excited, the transportation was available
and there had been public radio announcements along with a plug
from Chancellor John Pugh during the radio show “Talk Alaska”
that morning. The area chosen for the focus of this food drive were
the adjacent streets off of Riverside Drive as there is such a high
population density there. The food drive participants met in the
parking lot of the Juneau Racquet Club and started out.
The response from the community was overwhelming! Almost
100 percent of the households the students went to contributed more
than one can. Levi Russell, one of the UAS participants stated,
“Some of the households had heard the radio spots and had boxes
of food waiting in their garages to be picked up!” The process
was very simple. They would walk up to the door, introduce themselves,
and present the reason for the food drive.
In only 2 1/2 hours these six UAS students were able
to collect 486 pounds of canned goods which they happily delivered
to the food bank. The contributions were very well and gratefully
received! According to Tor Dahl, manager of the Southeast Alaska
Food Bank, there is always a need for contributions of food and
especially can goods, which have a long shelf life. The food bank
is almost 100 percent reliant on volunteers and so anyone is welcome
at any time to lend a hand to perform a variety of duties. As Tor
so enthusiastically put it, “Volunteers help create what the
food bank is…A caring place full of people with good attitudes
who enjoy working there to provide an important service to the community.”
Another organization that welcomes food donations from the community
is The Glory Hole. The Glory Hole is a shelter for the homeless
and people who are having hard times. It provides food, shelter,
clothing and a number of services for these people from job finding
to permanent housing.
“It’s just a big house with a couple of hundred
people living in it,” said Lance Young, Glory Hole Director.
Last Thanksgiving, the students of UAS collectively contributed
30 boxes of food for the Thanksgiving holiday which became part
of the Glory Hole’s 200 boxes of complete Thanksgiving dinners
given out to needy families. Also, the organization held a large
Thanksgiving dinner for needy people at the facility, which is an
annual event. As a matter of fact, they are looking for volunteers
to work at this year’s Thanksgiving dinner as well as the Christmas
party. “These holiday dinners are a huge undertaking and we
can use all the help we can get,” Young said.
What are the benefits a student would receive from participating
in this type of event? According to Russell, “In giving, you
feel better about yourself and you’re in a better place”.
“It’s a reward in itself just to be out there helping
the community,” said Mark Graves, student body president.
A student’s monetary resources are mainly tied
up in paying for their education. The main resource a student has
to offer is time and energy. As Graves so candidly put it, “It’s
easier for us to get out there and give our support, time and energy
... We’re broke, we’re young, and we can afford to spend
some time ... It’s a win-win situation as far as I’m concerned.”
The community benefits from these UAS events because the people
get to see the students active in the community and more community
projects can be completed with the extra manpower. The fact that
there are more people involved in community service makes the community
a better place, and people in need who may not be able to do things
for themselves are definitely benefited.
UAS benefits because the activity of its students in
service projects for the community of Juneau helps to bridge the
gap between the campus life and the community life. This type of
community involvement by the students sends a clear and powerful
message that UAS is a part of the community and is focused on being
a positive force for its enrichment and betterment. Because of their
unique status, students are really the only people who can bring
this message to the community as ambassadors for UAS.
Getting involved is simple. You can contact any of the
people in student government or student activities and they will
be more than glad to answer any questions you might have or assist
you in pursuing your own service projects on behalf of UAS. “One
of the Goals of student government is to increase the community
service role of UAS,” says Graves. “Any student that is
looking for any of these things and wants to be involved but doesn’t
know how. It’s easy ... come see us! The door is always open
and the phone line is always open!”
Back to issue contents /
Homepage
|
|
