Helping Hands: UF-led food drive unites community

To an outside observer, the Center for Student Life and College of Business building at the University of Findlay may have looked like it was bustling on Wednesday. Teams were sorting donated canned food into categories — pasta in one spot, peanut butter in another. Large pallets of canned fruits and vegetables were stacked, ready to go. But, said David P. Harr, director of dining services, the noon hour was actually a relatively slow time. The university's 16th annual Helping Hands Food Drive, organized by Sodexo, was likely to get far busier later in the day. He added that organizers expect to exceed their goal of 165,000 pounds of food donated. Harr stressed that the food drive's success is due to "huge community support." The drive is not just an endeavor of UF staff, students and faculty, but of the community as a whole. Community members could drop off donations at the Alumni Memorial Union on campus through 7:30 p.m. Other locations to donate included both Findlay Walmart stores, Kroger on Sixth Street and Brinkman's Market. (Student-athletes were staffing the collections at the stores.) And other community organizations also have become involved, from 50 North to AAA Findlay to Hearthside Food Solutions in McComb. Harr said students in Van Buren, Arlington and McComb schools are also collecting food, as are staff at other local businesses and some churches. Harr said the community has come together to help, and he is grateful. "Nobody should have food insecurity. … Everybody has down times," so people want to help, he said. Kaleb Brown is a graduate assistant at UF's service and community engagement office. Brown noted that, each year, the food drive tries to break the previous year's record of pounds of food donated. "I'm here to give back to the community" and to encourage others to do so, he said. One new aspect this year was a "can-struction" competition between student organizations. Students built sculptures out of canned food that represented their organization. The pre-vet students, for example, made a paw print out of canned food, while a student Habitat for Humanity group made a house. Last year, amid the pandemic, Harr said the university instead sought online donations of money to buy food. This year, both financial donations and donations of food were accepted. All donations go to CHOPIN Hall and will benefit families in Findlay and Hancock County. In 2020 alone, CHOPIN Hall provided 338,700 meals to those in need. Last year, the Helping Hands Food Drive far surpassed all goals and collected a record-breaking 165,735 pounds of food. Since the introduction of the food drive initiative to college campuses across the United States in 2006, UF has led the nation nearly every year with the most pounds collected and has donated 883,404 pounds of food to date, the university said. Arthurs: 419-427-8494