Canned goods drive benefits several food pantries in region
Have your canned goods ready when West Virginia University students come knocking this month.
Students in the WVU chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America have been hitting doors on campus as part of the “Knock for the Needy” canned food drive, a project they undertake annually with the Mountaineer Boys and Girls Club.
Items will be distributed to food pantries across the region. It’s a big project for the chapter that counts community service as one of its main missions.
Last year’s drive netted 1,400 cans, and the PRSSA hopes to surpass that this year.
“We’re going for 2,000,” said Nicole Riggleman, a PRSSA member who helps organize events for the Boys and Girls Club. “We’re expanding our events this year. We want the whole University community involved.”
Other student organizations are pitching in, too.
“We want to collect at least 300 cans,” said fellow PRSSA member Claire Barth, president of Alpha Xi Delta.
The sorority is well on its way to making its goal.
“I know we will because this is a campus that cares,” Barth said.
The PRSSA contribution will be added to what Boys and Girls Club members bring in while trick-or-treating during Halloween.
Julia Burton created “Knock for the Needy” in 2003 during her reign as Miss West Virginia. For more information, contact Riggleman at nicole.riggleman@mail.wvu.edu or Michelle Goodliff, PRSSA president, at wvuprssa@yahoo.com.