Shelves in West Virginia University’s student food pantry will be better stocked as the holiday season approaches thanks to a food drive by employees of the WVU Foundation.

The “Pack the Rack” effort resulted in more than 1,500 non-perishable food items being donated to the WVU student food pantry in Student Organization Services called The Rack.

The idea to help stock The Rack originated from the Foundation’s Employee Volunteer Committee, and the response was tremendous, said Renee Allison, who coordinated the effort.

“We decided to make a competition out of the food drive. We divided staff into four groups. The group that brought in the most items won breakfast from Panera,” said Allison. “A little friendly competition always seems to get people motivated.”

She added that the committee wanted to do something to help students after learning many of them routinely sacrifice the purchase of food to pay for education expenses, such as tuition, room and board, and/or student loans.

“Part of the mission of the Foundation is to enrich the lives of those touched by WVU. We figured a great way to help do that was to make sure the students have access to food they need,” Allison said.

Jacqueline Dooley, program coordinator for the Office of Student Activities and The Rack, is thrilled by the number of items given by Foundation staff to support WVU students.

“The donation received from the Foundation staff was simply awesome. We have had a continuous flow of students who have been able to receive great food items,” Dooley said. “Thank you for assisting the students.”

Since its creation in the fall of 2010, “The Rack” has served more than 4,000 students and their dependents. The student food bank is funded solely through private donations and grants. Earlier this year, WVU professor emeritus Joginder Nath created the first-ever endowment to help supply food to “The Rack.”

Allison said she hopes the Foundation’s efforts to help “The Rack” will spur employees in other WVU departments and units to join the effort.

-WVU-

es/bn/11/05/14

CONTACT: Bill Nevin, WVU Foundation
304-284-4056; wnevin@wvuf.org

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