DANVILLE, Va. — Averett University Athletics and its Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) collected a school-record 17,300 canned food and items to win a third consecutive USA South "Cans Across the Conference" competition, the league announced on Friday.
The Cougars become the first institution to win the competition three consecutive years. Averett's collection is the most in school history and the third-most garnered in a single year by an institution in the history of the competition. Overall, the USA South institutions collected 52,456 items this fall which is the second-highest total in competition history.
"We were all really astonished when we totaled the cans and found out we had raised this much," said senior
Samm Chandler, Averett SAAC's president the last three years. "The great thing about Averett is everyone always wants to help SAAC and give back to the community, and this year everyone stepped up. The first year we won, we only raised a little over 12,000 items and that was just three years ago, so I think it's really great that we keep improving. It's always exciting to win, but the most important thing is the more cans we raise the more people we help, and I was very happy we were also able to help the hurricane victims this year."
The holidays are a time to give thanks and appreciate the blessings in one's life. The members of the USA South SAAC groups realized that not everyone is as fortunate as they are and wanted to do something to help make it a happier holiday in their communities, and thus "Cans Across the Conference" was initiated in 2004. SAAC organized the canned food drive as a community service competition amongst the 19 institutions in the USA South. Each campus SAAC collected cans and other non-perishable items at their school to benefit a local charity. It was up to each institution to decide how it wanted to collect and to which group the donation would go toward.
New Conference member Berea College collected 9,906 items (the eighth-highest total in a single year by an institution in the history of the competition) to finish second while Mary Baldwin University's 5,835 items rounded out the top three. Over the 14-year history of the program, USA South Conference institutions have donated 441,722 items to various organizations. Seven institutions, consisting of Agnes Scott College, Averett, Covenant College, Huntingdon College, Mary Baldwin University, N.C. Wesleyan College and Salem College set new single-year school records for items collected during this year's competition. Additionally, those seven institutions as well as Meredith College and William Peace University improved on their collection amounts from a year ago.
Below is a list of the local organizations where the USA South institutions donated their collections:
Agnes Scott College: Decatur, Georgia Emergency Assistance Ministry.
Averett University: God's Storehouse Food Bank of Danville, Virginia.
Berea College: Berea, Kentucky-Area Food Bank.
Brevard College: Brevard, North Carolina Bread of Life Soup Kitchen.
Covenant College: Chattanooga, Tennessee-Area Food Bank.
Ferrum College: St. James Methodist Church of Ferrum, Virginia.
Greensboro College: Urban Ministry of Greensboro, North Carolina.
Huntingdon College: Montgomery, Alabama-Area Food Bank.
LaGrange College: Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen in LaGrange, Georgia.
Mary Baldwin University: Blue Ridge, Virginia-Area Food Bank.
Maryville College: Second Harvest Food Bank of East Tennessee.
Meredith College: Raleigh, North Carolina Rescue Mission.
Methodist University: Fayetteville, North Carolina Urban Ministry Food Bank.
N.C. Wesleyan College: Rocky Mount, North Carolina Peacemakers Family Center.
Salem College: Shalom Project of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Piedmont College: Cornelia, Georgia Soup Kitchen.
Wesleyan College: Loaves & Fishes Ministry of Macon, Georgia.
William Peace University: Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina.
