WC Students in Free Enterprise Launch Kent County’s Biggest-Ever Food Drive

CHESTERTOWN, MD—The Washington College chapter of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) has launched what it hopes will be the biggest food drive in Kent County’s history. Organizers of the “Let’s Can Hunger” drive have set a goal of collecting at least 5,000 cans (about 5,000 pounds) of food for the Kent County Community Food Pantry.

The food drive, which will continue through April 11, will involve students, faculty and local businesses. Each Washington College class has a goal of 500 cans of food, and faculty members are being challenged to collect another 1,000 cans. Professor Susan Vowels, the advisor for the College SIFE chapter, says an important part of the Let’s Can Hunger campaign, which is sponsored by SIFE donor company Campbell’s Soup, is to spread awareness of the growing number of people facing food insecurity on a regular basis.

Christian Tateo, a Washington College sophomore who is the project leader for the food drive, says signs showing goal thermometers will be posted in Hodson Hall to track how each class and the faculty are doing. “We will be delivering food to the Food Pantry each week, and the Food Pantry will weigh the food and tell me how we are doing,” says Tateo. Students will be reaching out to local businesses, too, offering promotion on campus in exchange for their donations of cash or canned goods.

Jim Fouss, chairman of the Food Pantry, says the students’ efforts will make a tremendous difference to struggling Kent County families. “Increases in gasoline and utility costs have really strained families, and the number of persons that we service continues to increase,” he notes.

For more information on the Let’s Can Hunger food drive and how to help the Washington College students reach their goal, email Christian Tateo at ctateo2@washcoll.edu.