November 08, 2016
Rachel Librach
One class at UCCS demonstrates their gratitude on Thanksgiving by hosting a campus-wide food drive.
The second annual food drive, a competition among departments to see who can collect the most food across campus for Clyde’s Cupboard, will run until Nov. 5, according to Jordan Coffman, vice president of Clyde’s Cupboard.
This food will go straight to the cupboard and be distributed to students.
Clyde’s Cupboard is 100 percent donation-based, and the organization only uses the donation money when necessary.
Any student can get six free food items once a week through the cupboard, according to Coffman.
Amanda Allee, assistant Dean of Students and director of Student and Judicial Affairs, said that this food drive is the main source of food that fills Clyde’s Cupboard each year.
Jessica Kirby, faculty supervisor for health sciences, came up with the idea to start a campus-wide food drive with students in her HSCI 4640: Program Planning and Implementation course as a class project three years ago.
Kirby is working with students this semester to plan and implement the food drive.
The Cupboard makes food items available to students who need it. Without Kirby’s food drive, Clyde’s Cupboard wouldn’t be able to stay open year round, according to Allee.
Departments like the Information Technology staff will donate one food item per update on a campus computer, an incentive that is new this year. IT tracks the updates done on any university or faculty computer, and they are willing to donate food every time an update is made.
“This food drive brings in enough food to be able to let us run the Cupboard for the rest of the semester and most of the spring,” Allee said.
“We are about halfway through with the drive and already our primary storage spaces are full.”
While there are donation boxes at Sanatorium Grounds coffee shop, this annual food drive is what makes Clyde’s Cupboard possible, said Allee.
Approximately 30 students use the cupboard’s services per week. This number fluctuates during the beginning and end of the semester, said Allee.
The food drive uses a point system to encourage students to donate specific food items that are in high demand, like peanut butter, said Coffman. Food like cereal, crackers, noodle cups and pasta often run out fast.
“We always run out of cereal, because that’s a really hot item. The point system awards two points instead of one point for cereal, for example. The item can change week to week depending on what we run out of,” said Allee.
The Cupboard has an overload of canned vegetables, according to Coffman, and could use more donations of the other food items listed.
“Anything nonperishable that students want to donate is a blessing and is immensely helpful to the students and we would be glad to have it,” said Allee.
Many boxes are around campus that students can donate food to, or they can bring their donations directly to the Student Life and Leadership Office, located in the University Center.
Clyde’s Cupboard is open every Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Students must show a valid ID.
For more information about Clyde’s Cupboard, students can visit their page on Mountain Lion Connect.