April 11, 2007
MIAA SAAC Canned Food Drive brings in more than 19,000 lbs.
Courtesy Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics AssociationOVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) Canned Food Drive brought in more than 19,000 pounds worth of donations to charities throughout the league.
The drive took place during the month of February. Nine of the 10 member schools participated and selected organizations in their communities for which to solicit donations.
The charities accepted donations of canned or nonperishable food items and/or monetary donations to be used in the purchase of food staples.
A total of 4,731 pounds of food items were accumulated, along with $1,840.61 collected to allow for the purchase of 14,724 pounds of food staples.
"This is the best total we've had in the eight-year history of this program, and once again it's because of the generous members of our communities," MIAA commissioner Ralph McFillen said. "On behalf of the institutions and all of the benefiting organizations, we are grateful for everyone's contributions."
Since beginning their annual campaign in 2000, the MIAA SAAC Canned Food Drive has raised more than 90,000 pounds of donations.
The conference SAAC, which includes one male and one female representative from each of the MIAA institutions, voted at its November 1999 meeting to have each school's student-athlete advisory committee spearhead the effort on their campus.
Organizations benefiting from the drive include: Warrensburg (Mo.) Food Pantry; SOS Shelter (Emporia, Kan.); Plumb Place Shelter (Emporia, Kan.), Rescue Mission Shelter (Emporia, Kan.); Salvation Army (Emporia, Kan. & Kirksville, Mo.); Community Assistance Center (Hays, Kan.); Crosslines Area Food Bank (Joplin, Mo.); Second Harvest Food Bank (St. Joseph, Mo.); Maryville (Mo.) Ministry Center Food Bank; Crisis Resource Center of Southeast Kansas (Pittsburg, Kan.); Hope's Kitchen and Women's Shelter (Kirksville, Mo.) and the Topeka (Kan.) Rescue Mission.
The only SAAC in the conference which did not participate, the group at Southwest Baptist, was working during February to raise funds to help an international student-athlete diagnosed with cancer in January return to school and collect personal belongings.
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