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.

"Empty Bowls" Event to Benefit Food Pantry

CHESTERTOWN, MD—The 2nd Annual Empty Bowls Project, a benefit for the Kent County Food Bank, will offer a simple meal of bread and soup served in hand-made bowls. The event will take place Thursday, March 29, 2012 in the Underwood Lobby of the Gibson Center for the Arts on the College campus, 300 Washington Avenue. Doors open at 5 p.m., and the program starts at 5:30 p.m.

The soup will be served in hand-made bowls created by local potters, community members and Washington College students. The bowls are unique keepsakes that guests can take home as a reminder that there are “empty bowls” everywhere.

Against the Grain, a Chestertown bakery-café, is donating a variety of breads for the dinner.

Tickets at $20 per adult and $10 for students and children must be purchased in advance; no tickets will be sold at the door. Last year’s event sold out, so reserve your tickets early.

Organizers of the benefit include the Washington College Service Council and Office of Student Development, the non-profit Artworks art center, and Against the Grain. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 410-778-7752 or e-mail student_affairs@washcoll.edu.

Photo: Taylor Kelty shows off her bowl of choice at the 2011 Empty Bowls fundraising dinner at Washington College.

Empty Bowls Dinner Tonight to Help End Hunger

CHESTERTOWN—Washington College joins the international community in the fight against hunger with an Empty Bowls Project dinner to benefit the Kent County Food Pantry on Thursday, March 3 beginning at 5:30 in Hynson Lounge. Local potters, community members, and students joined ceramics professor Marilee Schumann in early February at an open studio “Bowl-a-thon” to make clay bowls for the event. The “Bowl-a-thon” bowls will be used to serve up to 100 guests a meal of soup and bread; at the end of the evening attendees will take home their bowls as a symbol of the “empty bowls” that can be found worldwide.

The Washington College Service Council has in years past held similar bowl-making events and then sold the bowls for donations to the local food pantry. This year, for the first time, student organizers Jesse Schaefer and Leah Sbriscia decided the Service Council would join the Office of Student Development and Chester River Artworks to host a dinner.

Empty Bowls events, first conceived by the non-profit Imagine Render Group’s initiative to improve communities through education and the arts, have been held across the United States and in at least a dozen other countries to raise money and awareness for organizations working to end world hunger.

Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for students and children. For reservations call 410-778-7752, or e-mail student_affairs@washcoll.edu.

Hands Out For Halloween! WC Students To Collect Canned Goods For The Needy, October 31

Chestertown, MD, October 23, 2003 — Washington College's Hands Out Service Organization will be collecting canned goods for the needy on Halloween night, Friday, October 31, between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m.
Students from Washington College will join trick-or-treaters in Chestertown, but don't be surprised if they don't want your candy! Instead, they will be asking for your donation of canned or other imperishable food items to help restock local food pantries serving the underprivileged in Kent County.
Hands Out encourages Washington College students and faculty to lend a helping hand locally and regionally to those in need. Projects include food and clothing drives and other local community projects addressing specific needs. For more information or if you would like to join in this volunteer effort, contact Kerry Kauffman at 410-810-1872, or via e-mail: kkauffman2@washcoll.edu.