Local Food Pantry Wins, Betas Come Out on Top: Feed Your Mind Food Drive 2015

Photo: Beta Theta Pi members Iain Gould ’16 (left) and Hossam Hashish ’15 (right) drop off cans for the Feed Your Mind food drive.

Reeves Library, Westminster Poverty Initiative, and Lib UX teamed up in February to fight hunger in Callaway County through the eighth annual Feed Your Mind canned food drive. Other participating campus organizations included Kappa Alpha Theta, Beta Theta Pi, and Kappa Kappa Gamma. A total of 192 participants donated 313 cans of food and a cash donation to benefit the food pantry at SERVE, Inc.

In the past year, 13% of Callaway County residents have fallen below the poverty line. For families headed by a single mother, the numbers increase dramatically: 47.3% of those families with related children under 18 have fallen below the poverty line in the past year. (U.S. Census Bureau). Following are federal 2015 poverty guidelines for yearly household income: 1 person, $11,770; 2 people, $15,930; 3 people, $20,090; 4 people, $24,250 (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services).

In the month of January alone, 925 families (2,619 individuals) received aid from the local SERVE food pantry. More than 800 of those individuals were children, and nearly 300 were senior citizens. Almost half of the families who needed assistance from the food pantry receive food stamps.

The Feed Your Mind food drive supports Westminster College’s mission to “prepare [students] for lives of success, significance and service” by offering students a chance to bridge the “town-and-gown” divide and serve their larger community (Westminster College).

Congratulations to the brothers of Beta Theta Pi for donating the most cans! 

Post contributed by Jennifer Gravley, Reeves Library Practicum Student 

Total Cans Donated per Group

Beta Theta Pi, 173

Kappa Alpha Theta, 93

Reeves Library Public Services & Lib UX, 24

Kappa Kappa Gamma, 20

Westminster Poverty Initiative, 3

For more information, contact: Kat Barden, Assistant Director of Library Services, Reeves Library, at 573-592-5246 or Kat.barden@westminster-mo.edu.

References:

U.S. Census Bureau. “2009-2013 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.” American FactFinder. n.d. Web. 3 March 2015.

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. “2015 Poverty Guidelines.” U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2015. Web. 3 March 2015.

Westminster College. “Mission & Values.” Westminster College, n.d. Web. 3 March 2015.