University of Delaware To Participate in CAA Food Bank Challenge During Baseball, Women’s Basketball Home Games on March 3
February 14, 2013
NEWARK, Del. -- The University of Delaware will participate in the first ever Colonial Athletic Association Food Bank Challenge on Sunday, March 3 by collecting food items prior to the Blue Hen baseball team’s home game with Monmouth and the women’s basketball team’s home game against Drexel.
Collections will take place at Bob Hannah Stadium from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. as Delaware takes on Monmouth at 1 p.m., while donations will be taken from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in the Bob Carpenter Center prior to the Blue Hens’ 3:30 p.m. tipoff versus the Dragons.
The project, which is being run by the Colonial Athletic Association Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, not only provides an opportunity for student-athletes to compete in a non-athletic realm across campuses, but also allows institutions to address the need for donated food throughout their communities in an effort to stop hunger.
Institutions have partnered with local food bank organizations and designated one day during the spring term, most in conjunction with athletics events, to collect nonperishable food items for the "competition". A winner will be determined based on the number of pounds of nonperishable food collected by each institution. The CAA will announce the winner in March and CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager will present the winning institution with a trophy.
All food items collected on the UD campus will be donated to the Delaware Food Bank. Blue Hen patrons who donate at least five items will be eligible for a random drawing to win a gift certificate to a local restaurant.
"The CAA Food Bank Challenge is another example of our student-athletes donating their time and energy to make positive contributions on campus and in the community," said Yeager. "We hope people will support their efforts and contribute to this worthwhile initiative to help fight hunger."
The idea for the challenge was developed during the CAA SAAC Leadership Summit last November. The student-athletes wanted to adopt a new community service initiative to participate in as a conference. For the past 11 years, the conference has successfully conducted the CAA Blood Challenge each Fall, which has resulted in nearly 37,000 units of blood.
“While being a student-athlete we have the opportunity to impact and give back to our community,” said University of Delaware SAAC chairman Chelsea Craig, a member of the Blue Hen women’s basketball team. “The Delaware Food Bank is an incredible organization that helps thousands of people throughout our state and it is an honor to be working with them to help generate support for a great cause."
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