KSC extends a hand

 

    For the third year in a row, Sodexo, the food services and facility management company which coordinates dining operations at KSC,  organized a national canned food drive effort on the Keene State College campus, in an attempt to  support the communities for which it provides services to. Every year, each collection-area sets a quantifiable goal. This year’s mark was 500 pounds of donated food.

 

    According to dietician and KSC Sodexo employee Rebecca Briggs, who organized the collection efforts this year, the donations are brought to the Keene Community Kitchen, while other collection areas across the country bring their donations to local charities in their areas. The nationwide collectionand its world record breaking goals are a way to encourage more people to donate Briggs said.

 

    As the organizer of the collection at KSC, Briggs is involved in the efforts as well as the totaling of donations.

 

    “We began the drive on October 20,”Briggs said, “but we don’t do a count until the drive ends [Thursday Oct. 12],” Briggs said.

 

    The drive collected canned goods at several locations on campus, including the entrance to the Zorn Dining Commons, Hoot-n-Scoot, Lloyd’s Marketplace and the Zorn North Faculty Dining Commons. 

 

    KSC junior Raymond Petz, a Lloyd’s employee, said he didn’t notice many students drop off donations.

 

    “Not too many people left cans while I was working, but we did have some items we sold which proceeds went to the collection,” Petz said. 

 

    Petz continued to express his low expectations for the collection. “I haven’t seen many advertisements for it and the table we had in Lloyd’s didn’t seem to stand out to people in the store.”

 

    The collection is one of three major collections that occur at the D.C. According to Briggs, the two others are called “Cookies on Campus,” where KSC sets up a table on Appian Way, near the Student Center, and volunteers sell cookies to students and faculty. 

 

    The other effort is an online survey that Dining Services conducts. For this assessment Dining Services donates one dollar for every completed survey.

Briggs said she felt optimistic for the Hands Across America drive this year. 

 

    “In the past two years, we haven’t reached our goal,” Briggs said. “This year looks really good. From what I’ve seen, it looks like we reached our goal or at least came very close.”

 

    This positive attitude is hard for some students to see.

 

    Junior Mia Sweet said, “It’s hard for students to donate canned goods. They just aren’t something we have around. If I had some lying around I would have absolutely donated and I think other students would also.”

 

    In a press release issued on the KSC Web site, Briggs said, “We know folks in Keene and the surrounding area are no strangers to world record attempts and this event is no exception. All collections will be tallied and included with Sodexo accounts across the country, in a nationwide attempt to break a Guinness World Record for the most canned and non-perishable food items collected nationwide in a 24-hour period.”

 

     Briggs said she was very happy with the total. 

 

    “Our final collection came in at 538 pounds, nine ounces.  We also collected $330.19,” she said.

 

    Monetary donations are an avenue that started this year.

 

    “We started to collect cash this year in an attempt to give more to the community kitchen,” Briggs said.

 

    Although no word has come back about breaking the Guinness World Record, Briggs said the result is a great thing, showing how the KSC community cares about the greater Keene area and the people that need help within it.