CAFNR Organizations Unite to Collect Food
By Erin Meyers

CAFNR organizations met Saturday morning to collect food donations from local households as a community service project for this year’s CAFNR Week. All contributions will be donated to the Central Missouri Food Bank.

The project started Sept. 17, when CAFNR students distributed flyers to local Columbia residents. On Saturday, students, some still in their pajamas, gathered in the parking lot of the Trowbridge Livestock Center at 8:30 am, and from there the students carpooled to various subdivisions to gather the donated items.

Participating students received two points each for their CAFNR club, but the points were capped at 100 points per organization. The most represented groups included GDI, Sigma Alpha and Alpha Gamma Rho, all in hopes of winning CAFNR week.

“The fact that all of the organizations are participating, it brings the community together and we’re going to get a lot of food,” Heather Shauck, senior Sigma Alpha member said.

According to Cody Brock, senior Alpha Gamma Rho member, CAFNR week always has a community service project, although this is the first food drive for the annual event.

The Central Missouri Food Bank serves 33 counties in Central Missouri, spanning from as far south as Benton County, to Clark County, located in the northeast section of the state. Based off of a 2002 Census estimate, more than 94,000 residents are living at or below the poverty line. According to the Food Bank’s website, more than 64,000 Missouri residents were served each month last year.

According to Jessy Bradley, senior Steering Committee Tri-Director, Michelle Chadwick, a sophomore agricultural journalism student, spoke in an earlier meeting about the drop in the amount of supplies being donated. This was thought to be because of Hurricane Katrina.

“We’re hoping the community will support us,” Bradley said.

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