Shepherd University’s homecoming week showed that it was a time of more than dancing, football and king and queen nominations as it kicked off with the 2013 Spirit Stick Competition and fun was combined with community service.
Groups of students, led by the Homecoming Committee and Student Community Services Office, engaged in a contest to see who could gather the most food to donate to the Jefferson County Community Ministries (JCCM) food pantry.
According to Director of Student Development Rachael Meads, sororities, fraternities and other school groups (such as Rotaract and Common Ground) competed in homecoming activities and managed to collect over 1,100 pounds of food. The participants didn’t win anything because, as Meads stated, “We felt volunteerism should not be rewarded with money or physical gains.”
Groups were given lists of needed items as well as areas of Shepherdstown in which to canvas for goods. The groups also had the option of spending their own money to purchase badly needed staples including peanut butter, potatoes and rice. Alpha Sigma Tau won the contest with its donation of 300 pounds, and Sigma Sigma Sigma was only a few pounds behind in second place. The winner was announced at the homecoming football game on Oct. 5 and mentioned in a press release
The recipient of the donation, JCCM, is a non-profit organization which, according to its website, started in 1982 and is a “cooperative ministry of local churches to assist people in need” with things like food, clothes and other services. The group works year round, not just during holidays, to help the families of Jefferson County.
Bob Shefner, director for JCCM, said the donation was “generous and wonderful.”
Shefner also stated that people who come to the JCCM seeking help will take away roughly twenty pounds of food per person. So, the 1,100 pounds of food collected from the event will help roughly fifty-five individuals or over thirteen families of four. The JCCM proudly displays a picture of Becky Boyer of the Program Board on their Facebook page as she delivers the food to the pantry.
Sarah Brennan, a senior, thinks the event was a wonderful idea, stating, “I think charity starts at home, and I know there are plenty of local families who need and appreciate the food.”
Courtney Trainor, a senior and commuter, stated that she “hadn’t heard about it at all” but thought it was a “good thing for them to do.”