Florida Student-Athletes Sponsor Second Annual Gators Canned Goods Challenge for Kids
Wednesday, September 2, 2009 | General
The University of Florida will kick off the second annual Gators Canned Goods Challenge for Kids at the first home football game against Charleston Southern on Sept. 5. The Gator Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) is sponsoring the season-long canned food drive to benefit the Bread of the Mighty Food Bank in Gainesville. SAAC representatives will be present at every game to help with the collection process.
"Whether in life or on the football field, it takes a whole team to have success,” Florida football head coach Urban Meyer said. “This program is a great way for The Gator Nation to come together and ensure that we have fewer hungry kids in our neighborhoods tomorrow than we had yesterday."
Fans are encouraged to bring as many canned goods as possible to every home game. The main drop off location on game day is the Verizon Wireless Gator FanFest located outside Gate 2 of the Stephen C. O'Connell Center, which opens three hours prior to kickoff. Alternate locations at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium will be set up at the north end of the stadium near Murphree Hall, as well as the Lot 5 Flavet Field parking area.
New this season, Gator fans can also drop off canned goods at several other Gainesville locations: the Pita Pit, The Swamp Restaurant, Ballyhoo and Gator's Dockside. Collections will be distributed to over 150 local organizations, serving five local communities, including the Alachua, Dixie, Gilchrist, Lafayette and Levy counties.
Each home game, the Gators will announce how many pounds of food were collected the game before and the total weight to date.
The Southeastern Conference will additionally hold the third SEC Together we CAN Drive the week of Sept. 18-27, coinciding with the Gators' home game against Tennessee on Sept. 19. Every SEC school will participate in the league-wide food and donation drive to support food banks in the schools' local area. Last year, the Together We CAN Drive raised over 40,000 pounds of food and donations which benefitted local food banks and shelters.
The Bread of the Mighty Food Bank encourages people to bring canned fruits, vegetables and meats. Please do not donate glass containers.
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