University of Illinois Springfield students helped to collect 5,455 pounds of food during the annual Trick-or-Treat for Canned Goods event last week. A total of six teams, consisting of 85 students, went door-to-door in several Springfield neighborhoods collecting canned goods and other non-perishable food items.
The food will be donated to the Central Illinois Foodbank, which distributes supplies to food pantries, soup kitchens, residential programs, and after-school programs in a 21-county region.
The teams canvassed the neighborhoods and distributed door hangers that explained the project. Collected items were returned and weighed on campus, and prizes were awarded to the teams that collected the most food.
Students in the Step To Prestige team collected 1,242 pounds of food in the Country Club Estates subdivision. Students who are part of the Christian Student Fellowship (CSF) collected 1,213 pounds of food in the Mill Creek subdivision. CSF was also awarded the prize for the most pounds collected per team member, with an average of 121 pounds per member.
The UIS Cox Children’s Center also held a Trunk-or-Treat, where they collected 914 pounds of food for the UIS Cares Food Pantry. The pantry, located in the Student Affairs Building, was started in 2016 as a way to help students with food insecurity on campus.