Cans Around the Oval shatters record
CSU’s Cans Around the Oval, the largest food drive in Northern
Colorado, collected 83,633 pounds of food on Thursday, shattering
last year’s record of over 60,000 pounds of food.
Even before the 10 a.m. starting time, children, students and
Fort Collins community members gathered around the Oval for the
17th annual Cans Around the Oval and cars were still dropping off
food donations at the 4 p.m. ending time.
“I’m so tired I can’t even think,” said co-coordinator Jessica
Goldberger, a junior environmental health major. “I’m really
excited and I feel great. This was a lot bigger than we thought it
would be.”
Wendie Robinson, director of the Larimer County Food Bank, said
the Food Bank relies heavily upon the annual donations from Cans
Around the Oval.
“We are seeing people that were donating last year coming in for
food at the Food Bank this year,” Robinson said. “We’ve seen a 32
percent increase in demand for food and we are really seeing a
fallout from the economy. This event generates an abundance of
food, which is direly needed.”
CSU President Larry Penley helped place the first cans around
the Oval to officially begin the food drive and emphasize the
event’s importance.
“This is a significant event because the problem of hunger is
not just a problem overseas, it is a problem in our country and it
is a problem in Larimer County,” Penley said. “It is a good example
of our major commitment to service.”
Ten-year-old Jake Hubel, a fifth-grader at Bauder Elementary
School, contributed over a hundred cans to Cans Around the Oval.
Hubel sheepishly admitted that he missed school for the morning to
come and help line the Oval with cans.
“I brought in 107 cans ’cause I got a big black barrel and went
around asking people for cans,” Hubel said. “I did it to win (a
school raffle) to come here and to help people that are in need of
food.”
On the CSU campus many individuals contributed canned food to an
organization and then an organization representative brought the
food to the Oval on Thursday.
“I’m bringing all the cans from Chi Omega,” said Courtney Ives,
a senior human development and family studies major. “We try to win
every year. This year every girl had to bring 40 cans, which
amounts to about 4,000 cans.”
Different groups on campus competed to bring in the most cans
and to win the first-place traveling trophy named Burt, a trophy
made entirely out of empty tins and cans.
Last year Newsom Hall won the competition by collecting 8,654
pounds of food, but this year had to surrender the first-place
trophy to the Student Recreation Center, which collected 9,187
pounds of food.
“Our goal is to get first place and show that our house can
support the most and help out those in need the most,” Ives
said.
Robinson encourages the competition of the event because of the
outcome it provides.
“I want to express my appreciation of the entire CSU community,”
Robinson said. “This is a huge effort and we really appreciate it.
I think that it is fun – a little competition is always great
motivation.”
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